Gary Harkins came back to haunt Dundee at Rugby Park, making a miraculous recovery from injury to help knock his old club out of the Scottish Cup.
It was little over a fortnight ago that Harkins was told he had suffered a broken ankle but he defied that diagnosis to not only face his former side but take a leading role in both of Kilmarnock’s goals.
He nodded the ball on for Paul Heffernan’s opener on 34 minutes then played in Dean Shiels for the home side’s second just before half-time.
The Dens men battled superbly in the second period of this fourth-round replay, grabbing a brilliant goal back through Gavin Rae just after the hour, but it is the Ayrshire men who march on to face against Hibs at Easter Road.
Dundee boss Barry Smith said: ”We are disappointed in getting beat but I think the boys should be happy with their performances over the two ties. We have played well in both games and created chances against a good team who are sitting sixth in the Premier League.
”Credit to Killie, they scored their two goals tonight and deserved to go through.”
Harkins had kind words for his ex-colleagues, saying: ”I am glad we are through but Dundee are a great team and better than the division they are in.”
The major shock before kick-off was the Killie midfielder’s inclusion, while the Dark Blues were unchanged from the team that started on Saturday against Livingston.
Killie were the first to threaten on four minutes when Liam Kelly fired over the bar.
Stevie Milne hit back a couple of minutes later, though, running in from the right only to send his shot into keeper Cammy Bell’s arms. The striker came close again just seconds later, getting a toe to a Matt Lockwood ball from the left when a whole boot may have directed it into the net.
”Savo” was in the mood and he passed up a terrific chance to score on 10 minutes when a freekick was swung in by Ryan Conroy, but he could only sidefoot the ball wide.
The home fans were voicing their displeasure at the way the game was unfolding and it was up to Dundee to take advantage of that anxiety.
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Harkins tried to cheer them up when he went on a run into the box on 22 minutes but his weak attempt was easily gathered by goalie Rab Douglas. The midfielder, playing in attack, then came closer with a back-post header before Rory McKeown wasted a great opportunity for the hosts by hammering the ball over, leaving his frontmen with no hope of connecting.
The SPL side were gathering momentum, though, and they took the lead on 34 minutes. A long clearance out of defence was superbly headed on by Harkins into the path of Heffernan, who cut in from the left before firing his shot low across Douglas and into the far corner of the net.
Dundee were fortunate not to go two down just a minute later when Shiels found space inside the area, with his strike going just a foot over the bar.
Their luck wasn’t to last, though, and Killie got their second just two minutes before half-time, with Harkins involved again. As the hosts burst forward, he threaded a pinpoint pass through to Shiels, who produced a brilliant finish to blast the ball past Douglas from 15 yards.
There was a question over whether Killie’s Manny Pascali had committed a foul in the build-up but ref Stevie O’Reilly gave the goal.
Unchanged at the break, Dundee had to somehow drag themselves back into the match. A defence-splitting pass from Rae released Jamie McCluskey up the right wing but his fine cross had no takers.
But the Dark Blues had a lifeline on 62 minutes, thanks to a superb move. McCluskey carried the ball over the halfway line then seemed to get stuck for options before being overlapped by Gary Irvine, who had sprinted from the right-back position.
McCluskey eventually found Irvine, whose run was good and cross even better. It found a grateful Rae smack-bang in front of goal and the former Scotland man bulleted his header past Bell under pressure from Kelly.
With that fabulous goal safely tucked away, Dundee went hunting for an equaliser as the fans’ tension crept back in.
The impressive Rae almost latched on to a slack Killie pass-back on 77 minutes before Milne stuck a foot out only to miss by an inch as the ball was played to Bell again.
Both teams made substitutes on 82 minutes Dundee replacing Ross Chisholm with Graham Bayne, while Killie swapped Garry Hay with Danni Racchi.
Dundee were trying everything but the three minutes of added time came and went without the goal they so craved.
Attendance: 4618.