Dee hot favourites but that wasn’t always so

day sent Dundee on the way to a highly impressive, if unexpected, 4-1 victory.

Bizarrely that victory came in the second of what was a run of three Scottish Cup ties in a row.

A week earlier a penalty from Sinclair’s long-time strike partner Billy Pirie had secured a single-goal win over Falkirk at Dens.

And a week after the St Mirren success, Gemmell took his team to Ibrox where they gave a reasonable account of themselves before going down to eventual cup winners Rangers 6-3.

More importantly for Dundee, Sinclair was back in the team and between then and the end of the season would chip in with another seven goals as promotion via the First Division title was secured by a one-point margin over Kilmarnock.

Returning to the Scottish Cup, the Dark Blues and the Buddies have not been frequent opponents down the years.

That “Eric Sinclair” tie was the first for 17 years and in the 38 since there have only be two further clashes, both of which Dundee have won comfortably.

A word of warning for the home team, however, the last time they lost to St Mirren in the Scottish Cup was back in late January 1962.

A 1-0 reversal at Dens sparked a run of three home defeats in a row for Bob Shankly’s team.

And, for a ti me, that form threatened to knock them off course in what turned out to be their famous championship-winning season.

Bob Shankly’s 1962 title-winning team was almost derailed by a home defeat to St Mirren which set off a run of three home losses in a row.