St Mirren edge out Livingston on penalties to progress in Scottish Cup

St Mirren edged past Livingston on penalties to keep their hopes of a cup double alive.

The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth-round tie before the Buddies prevailed 4-3 in the shootout.

Jeremy Bokila blazed Livingston’s first penalty over the bar and, after Livi’s Tete Yengi and St Mirren’s Richard King both saw tame efforts saved, Malik Dijksteel converted the decisive kick.

Roland Idowu had earlier rolled the ball home at the back post after just three minutes for the visitors, with Scott Arfield replying on his first start in Livi colours with a fine finish shortly after.

Despite plenty of chances from both sides, there were no further goals, with penalties needed to decide who would progress to the fifth round.

Buddies boss Stephen Robinson, whose side beat Celtic to win the Premier Sports Cup in December, had voiced his displeasure over recent performances and results following their 2-0 loss to 10-man Hearts midweek.

His players gave him the perfect response as they got on the front foot early on and opened the scoring inside three minutes.

Killian Phillips’ defence-splitting pass sent Jayden Richardson clear down the right, with the wing-back repaying his manager’s faith in recalling him to the starting line-up as he teed up Idowu to fire home the opener at the back post.

The reply, though, was rapid. Making his first start for his hometown club having signed last week at the age of 37, Arfield showed he can still produce the goods with a composed finish beyond Shamal George after a neat flick from Joshua Brenet.

After the blistering opening minutes, both sides looked to get on the front foot and assert some control. Declan John curled an effort narrowly wide for St Mirren, while at the other end Robbie Muirhead teed up Lewis Smith, with the winger inches away from nestling the ball in the far corner.

An entertaining first half made way for an altogether more cagey affair after the interval, with both sides struggling to produce anything in the final third.

A Muirhead header straight into the arms of George on the hour mark from a pinpoint Smith delivery was the best chance in the opening stages, while Connor McLennan cut in from the left and curled an effort on goal as Livi looked to break the deadlock.

Livi were certainly looking the most likely to score and George produced a fine save to thwart Stevie May after he was sent clear by Brenet before Muirhead had the keeper worried with a fizzing long-range strike that flew narrowly over the bar.

Having seen themselves through that sticky patch, the away side looked set to take the lead, only for Jerome Prior to produce a terrific save to deny substitute Dan Nlundulu, with neither side able to find a winner inside 90 minutes.

The St Mirren striker should have broken the deadlock in the opening exchanges of the second half of extra-time, but Brenet produced a key block.

Bokila then had a header tipped over the bar by the fingertips of George before his costly miss in the shootout.