St Mirren were knocked out of the William Hill Scottish Cup after a 2-1 loss at home to Dundee United.

First half goals from Pavol Safranko and Nicky Clark did the damage despite Saints dominating the second 45.

The Buddies created the first opening of the game with Greg Tansey striking from the edge of the area. However, the midfielder's effort was routine for United goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist.

United took the lead on 15 minutes as the Saints defence failed to clear their lines follow two great stops from goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky. The Czech stopper blocked Nicky Clark's header and then Safranko's follow-up. But the Buddies could only get it clear as far as the edge of the box where Peter Pawlett had a go. Safranko stuck a toe on it to knock it beyond Hladky and give the visitors an early lead. 

The Tangerines were buoyed by their opener and took a firm grip on the game. Calum Butcher headed over from a corner not long after Safranko almost added his and United's second. Then, on 27 minutes, Hladky and Mateo Muzek did well to deny Pawlett and Ian Harkes from making it 2-0. 

Ex-Saint Cammy Smith had a go on 31 minutes after driving forward, but his long distance effort for easy for Hladky.

It was a first half to forget for Saints and any hopes of hanging on to just a one goal deficit heading into the interval were extinguished when Clark added a second for the visitors right on the stroke of half-time. A long ball over the top caught out the Buddies defence and allowed Clark to get in between Jack Baird and Mihai Popescu and the striker lifted the ball over Hladky to make it 2-0. 

Saints gave themselves it all to do in the second half but started brightly as they looked to find a way back into the match. Oran Kearney had brought on Kyle McAllister and Simeon Jackson in place Greg Tansey and Anders Dreyer. 

McAllister looked sharp and had a go two minutes into the second period only for the shot to be blocked. On 56 minutes the winger then floated a ball into the box for Jackson whose header from a tight angle was clawed away by Siegrist. 

After a positive start, Saints were given a boost when United were reduced to 10 men just after the hour mark. Calum Butcher was given his marching orders after a poor challenge on Ryan Flynn at the centre circle. 

The Buddies almost had a goal back just a minute after the red when Popescu cracked a shot off the underside of the bar that had looked as if it may just had sneaked in. 

Brad Lyons and Jackson had curling attempts from inside the box as Saints desperately tried to find a way back into the match - both sent just wide. 

Then with 13 minutes to go St Mirren had the goal their second half play deserved. Duckens Nazon scored his first for the Buddies with a strike from the edge of the box deflected off the thigh of Pawlett on its way beyond Siegrist.  

Saints had United penned back for the remainder of the match, but try as they may just couldn't fashion the opportunity that would have levelled the scores and taken us to a replay at Tannadice. 

Full Time: St Mirren 1-2 Dundee United

St Mirren: Hladky, P.McGinn (c), Popescu, Baird, Muzek, MacPherson (Erhahon 81), Flynn, Tansey (McAllister 46), Lyons, Dreyer (Jackson 46), Nazon
Subs Not Used: Holmes, Corbu, Mullen

Dundee United: Siegrist, Reynolds, Connolly, Butcher, Robson, Seaman, Harkes, Smith (Sow 63), Pawlett, Safranko, Clark (Gomis 65)
Subs Not Used: Laidlaw, Frans, McMullan, Fyvie, Nesbitt

Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: Frank Connor
Fourth Official: Steven McLean

Attendance: 3,965

The Saints gaffer reflects on a disappointing afternoon for the Buddies as we are knocked out of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

It's a break from league football for Saints tomorrow as the Buddies host Dundee United in the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

FORM

St Mirren booked their place in the Fifth Round with a dramatic 3-2 win over Alloa Athletic at the Simple Digital Arena last month. 

The Buddies fell 2-0 behind in the first half with Alan Trouten and Kevin Cawley netting for the part-timers. 

But Saints roared back in the second half with Cody Cooke, Ethan Erhahon and Kyle McAllister sealing a remarkable comeback. 

McAllister's late winner won him Scottish Cup Goal of the Fourth Round. 

Dundee United also began in the Fourth Round this season and progressed thanks to a comfortable 4-0 win away to Montrose. 

Saints are coming into tomorrow's match on the back of a narrow loss to Motherwell on Wednesday night. The Fir Park side went 1-0 up, but Paul McGinn got St Mirren level with his second goal of the season. However, only a few short minutes after Saints' equaliser, Motherwell took the lead again to win the game 2-1.

Robbie Neilson's Dundee United were last in action last Saturday when they overcame Morton 2-1 at Tannadice in the Championship.

PREVIOUS

This will be the first time the two sides have met this season.

There were four meetings between Saints and United last season in the Championship with both winning two apiece. 

Dundee United were victorious in the last clash with an early Billy King strike giving the Tangerines a 1-0 win at Tannadice. 

The Buddies did, however, defeat the Arabs on both of their visits to the Simple Digital Arena last season.

The first was in August 2017 when a Lewis Morgan double and an Ian McShane strike gave us a 3-0 win. Morgan was at the double again when United visited in December 2017 with his two second half goals seeing us run out 2-0 winners.

The last meeting of the sides in this competition was in February 2014 in the fifth round. Dundee United edged it 2-1 at Tannadice with Nadir Ciftci and Ryan Gauld scoring either side of a Kenny McLean penalty. 

St Mirren defeated United in the fifth round in 2008. After a 0-0 draw at Tannadice, Andy Dorman gave Saints a 1-0 win at Love Street in the replay.

We have won this competition three times in our history with the last coming in 1987 when Ian Ferguson's extra-time goal saw us defeat tomorrow's opponents to lift the cup. Our other previous triumphs came in 1926 when we defeated Celtic 2-0 and in 1959 when we overcame Aberdeen 3-1.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN

A place in the quarter-final is at stake tomorrow. 

St Mirren last made the quarter-finals in the 2016/17 season. Wins over Spartans and Dundee in the third and fourth round respectively set up a fifth round trip to Methil to face East Fife. The Buddies edged out the Fifers 3-2 at New Bayview to progress to the last eight. 

Saints then met Celtic at Celtic Park and despite Harry Davis' early goal stunning Brendan Rodgers' outfit, the Hoops eventually ran out 4-1 victors.

Dundee United are aiming to make their first quarter-final since 2015/16. The Tangerines reached the semi-finals that season where they were edged out by Hibernian on penalties at Hampden. 

TEAM NEWS 

Stephen McGinn is a doubt for St Mirren after sustaining an injury in our midweek defeat to Motherwell. 

Lee Hodson, Gary MacKenzie, Kyle Magennis, Jim Kellermann and Cody Cooke remain out.

Our match day programme, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, will be available from the Club Shop ahead of Saturday’s game.

This issue, for the William Hill Scottish Cup 5th Round tie against Dundee United, is a 52 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Anton Ferdinand.
The Gaffer - Oran Kearney looks back on recent matches and looks ahead to the match against United.
Last Time Out – A look back at the recent Premiership match against Rangers.
The Opposition – Brian Corry casts an eye over Robbie Neilson's Dundee United side.
Matchday Announcements - Bulletin Board of info, dates and events in the world of St Mirren.
Decade of Football at Greenhill Road - A look back at some Scottish Cup ties played at Greenhill Road.
St Mirren Greats – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of Jimmy Knox.
Matchday Gallery - Pictures from the post match presentations in the corporate suite after the recent home match against Hibernian.
Action Shot (Centre Pages) – Forward, Danny Mullen.
Player Kit Sponsors 2018/19 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
Fans Corner - Ticket prices, travel clubs update, match info and dates for fans to keep in their diary.
Appearances & Goals - The latest squad stats.
Under 20 Buddies - Pictorial posers to test your memory. 
Paisley Panda's Fun Corner – Some puzzles to keep the youngsters entertained during the half-time break.
January Transfer Window – A look back at the ins and outs over the January 2018 transfer window.
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2018/19 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Saturday’s match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2018/19 season click HERE.

If you live outside the UK & Ireland, St Mirren TV is your way to watch Paisley’s Premiership club live in action each and every home match day.

This service, which is delivered by media students from the University of the West of Scotland, will cover all of St Mirren’s home games.

As usual the St Mirren TV team will be presenting all the action from the Simple Digital Arena when Dundee United are the visitors for Saturday afternoon's William Hill Scottish Cup 5th Round tie.

If you want to tune in here is the info you will need:

St Mirren vs Dundee United
William Hill Scottish Cup
Venue: The Simple Digital Arena, Paisley
Date: Saturday 9th February 2019
Kick-off: 3:00pm GMT

To access this match day service:

1 Day Pass – €6.99 EUR
Season Pass – €69.99 EUR

To view Terms & Conditions and get started with St Mirren TV please click HERE.

For technical support with St Mirren TV please e-mail tvsupport@stmirren.com

Come along to the Simple Digital Arena on Saturday afternoon and join in with the Matchday Experience which kicks-off at 1:45pm in and around the Family Stand.

Building on the successful initiatives that have seen St Mirren win the accolade of Most Family Friendly Ground in the Scottish Supporters Association Fan Awards, the Club's SLO and Paisley Panda with support from SMiSA and the SMFC Fans' Council present a range of activities to improve the matchday experience for families and all younger Buddies.

Although all the activities will be taking place behind the Family Stand they are available to all fans regardless of what stand you are sitting in for the match. The Dundee United fans are also more than welcome to join in the fun behind the family stand.

The events lined up for Saturday are as follows:

* A visit from Tickles the Clown who will be entertaining us all with magic and pranks.

* Live music from Sasha Kaloheris.

* Face painting.

* Free sweets courtesy of Black and White Army.

* Meet Paisley Panda!

So come along early and get involved in the fun activities before getting ready to back the Buddies in the William Hill Scottish Cup tie against Dundee United. #BackTheBuds

We are giving fans the opportunity to vote for the man of the match and also put two lucky fans in with the chance of winning a £10 voucher for the Club Shop.

Every home game we’ll throw open the voting on the 60 minute mark for 20 minutes where votes can be cast on Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do is use the hashtag #SMFCMOM followed by the name of the player you are voting for, eg ‘#SMFCMOM JACKSON’.

With 10 minutes of the game remaining all the votes will be counted then the Stadium Announcer will confirm the winning player over the tannoy system.

From all the fans who nominate the winning player one will be picked at random from the Facebook account and another from the Twitter account and they will each be awarded a £10 voucher for the Club Shop. The winners will be notified through the account they posted from.

Please note that the winners must collect their voucher after the game.

So get yourself ready on the hour mark of Saturday’s game against Dundee United and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

Paisley Panda will host the ever-popular match day competition ‘Bung a Baw’ during the half-time break of Saturday’s match against Dundee United.

To take part in ‘Bung a Baw’ fans need to purchase a small foam ball which is numbered and they will then have a chance to throw their ball towards our club mascot Paisley Panda in front of the Family Stand. Each person will have 60 seconds to do this and the winner will be the person who has thrown the ball closest to the feet of the Panda. The winner will be confirmed over the PA system.

The competition is sponsored by Glen-Bun Bakery who are supplying a full tray of yummy cakes as the prize for the contest winner.

Each ball will cost £1 to buy. The balls will be available from sellers inside the Family Stand in the 30 minutes leading up to kick-off and then again in the first 5 minutes of half-time before the competition starts (subject to availability). Each ball is numbered and participants will also get a ticket with the corresponding number which they will use to claim the prize if they win.

‘Bung a Baw’ continues to be very popular so Paisley Panda advises that you get in early on Saturday to purchase your ball to take part.

As well as taking care of ‘Bung a Baw’, Paisley Panda will be giving away sweets to the kids in and around the stadium courtesy of the Black and White Army website.

Paisley Panda is pleased to confirm that ‘First Scorer’ will be back for the game on Saturday against Dundee United.

‘First Scorer’ lets fans predict in advance of the game who they think will score St Mirren's first goal in Saturday’s match against the Terrors.

From all of those who guessed correctly, a winner will be picked at random and they will win a box of a dozen doughnuts which will be delivered to their seat right after the goal is scored!

To enter all you have to do ahead of the game is post your prediction of the first St Mirren scorer on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #Saints1stgoal. The lucky winner will then be contacted to confirm which stand they will be in with the row and seat number so that the prize can be delivered to them.

Please note that in preparation for adverse weather conditions, Community Football Centres at the St Mirren Airdome are off this weekend.

Due to the unavailability of the Airdone there will be no pre-match coaching session for Panda Club members on Saturday but the Panda Club will run at the amended time of 2:30 to 5:30pm to take in tomorrow's Scottish Cup tie against Dundee United.

St Mirren in the Community apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.