Saints' hopes of a trip to Hampden and Scottish Cup glory came to an end when they lost to Aberdeen.
It was a pretty forgettable 90 minutes, one of the few moments of genuine quality producing an early goal as Lewis Ferguson scored a tremendous strike with the outside of his foot. Curtis Main thought he'd headed his side further in front after the break but it was ruled out for offside before Sam Cosgrove sealed victory with a late penalty on a disappointing evening for Saints fans and neutrals watching at home on BBC Scotland.
Saints with the side that secured a late win at Fir Park on Tuesday night, the in-form Jon Obika once again being partnered by Alex Jakubiak. Main led the Aberdeen attack with the prolific Cosgrove only on the bench.
The big forward headed wide from Dean Campbell's free-kick before the Dons took an early lead. Matty Kennedy's through ball found Ferguson at the edge of the box and he used the outside of his boot to produce a wonderful finish that Vaclav Hladky had no chance of stopping.
Anyone hoping that early flurry of excitement was to be the start of an exciting cup tie similar to Saints' defeat of Motherwell in the previous round was to be left sorely disappointed as both sides found it difficult to get going. While not entirely to blame, the wind and rain also wasn't doing anybody any favours - although it did nearly help Lee Hodson's cross loop into the net. The fullback's next cross forced a corner which Akin Famewo headed well wide.
There was some relief at the other end when Hladky failed to hold a Kennedy free-kick before his defence bailed him out – only fair since the goalie has done similar for his team-mates so often during his time with the club. There looked to be more trouble when Niall McGinn won the ball from Cammy MacPherson and bore down on goal, however ref Don Robertson felt the Saints youngster had been barged aside and gave a foul. In the final minute of a dire half MacPherson's free-kick caused problems in the Aberdeen box but Conor McCarthy couldn't quite dig the ball out from under his feet and Joe Lewis was able to gather it.
Jakubiak was replaced by Kyle McAllister at the break as Saints looked for an equaliser, an Obika header being turned behind for a corner. McAllister tried to thread the ball through for the striker but Lewis was able to gather it, however in attempting to keep pace with Obika Scott McKenna had pulled a muscle and had to be replaced by Mikey Devlin.
That blow didn't seem to disrupt the Dons too much and they looked to have doubled their lead when Main stooped to head Kennedy's cross past Hladky, however the flag was up for offside. The visitors seemed happy to sit deep and let Saints have plenty of possession but they didn't look too penetrating with it, a rare chance coming when Jamie McGrath stung the palms of Lewis from long range.
In a bid to change things, Saints boss Jim Goodwin handed Seifedin Chabbi his much anticipated Saints debut at the expense of MacPherson with Tony Andreu then coming on for Ilkay Durmus. Chabbi just failed to get onto the end of a McAllister cross, while Main didn't get quite enough on the end of a teasing delivery from McGinn. The striker was replaced by Craig Bryson before Cosgrove – who'd early replaced Campbell – found himself in a great position to finish the game off but could only fire wide.
It didn't matter as he made amends in stoppage time. As Cosgrove burst into the box, he was pushed by Saints skipper Foley and Mr Robertson wasted little time in pointing to the spot. Hladky may have a great record at saving penalties and he did guess correctly, however Cosgrove slotted it right into the bottom corner to seal his side's progress to the semi-finals.
Full-Time: St Mirren 0-2 Aberdeen
St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy, Famewo, Waters, McGrath, Foley (c), MacPherson (Chabbi 72), Durmus (Andreu 83), Jakubiak (McAllister 45), Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Wallace, Mullen, Morias
Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Taylor, McKenna (Devlin 52), Considine, Ojo, Campbell (Cosgrove 74), Ferguson, Kennedy, McGinn, Main (Bryson 87)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, McGeouch, Anderson, Hernandez
Referee: Don Robertson
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Assistant Referee: Kylie Cockburn
Fourth Official: John McKendrick
Attendance: 4,479
Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography
