Steven Naismith was impressed with the “intensity” that debutant substitute Dexter Lembikisa brought to Hearts’ play as they eked out a 2-1 victory over spirited fourth-tier side Spartans in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth round on Saturday.

The Jamaica international right-back – who spent the first half of the campaign with Rotherham – joined the Jambos on loan from Wolves until the end of the season and the Jambos support got their first sight of him at Ainslie Park when he entered the fray just before the hour mark.

At that point Hearts were leading through Kenneth Vargas’ third goal in as many games but they were pegged back by a stunning equaliser from Spartans midfielder James Craigen before Frankie Kent spared the cinch Premiership side from ignominy when he headed the winner in stoppage time.

When asked about Lembikisa’s encouraging start, Naismith said: “That urgency and intensity I speak about, he gave us it.

“First time he gets the ball, he takes his man on, beats him and puts it in the box. He was also in at the back post a couple of times.

“He’s a good addition for us and that’s why we got him in as early as we could.

“The level he has played at and in the last year, in terms of becoming an international, he’s a good player to have in our squad. And it’s one where you will probably see the best of him as he goes on.”

On the day when 41-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon made his first start in 13 months following a double leg-break, another Hearts debutant against Spartans was 16-year-old attacker James Wilson, who came on at the same time as Lembikisa.

Japanese forwards Yutaro Oda and Kyosuke Tagawa were the two players who went off at that point after they failed to shine in the absence of talismanic striker Lawrence Shankland who missed out through illness.

Wilson signed a new contract with Hearts last summer amid interest from several clubs, including Manchester United and Aston Villa, and Naismith felt the teenager merited the chance to go on and help his team find a second goal.

“James came on because we needed him,” said Naismith. “He is somebody who is very intelligent with his movement and he’s a goal threat.

“I didn’t think we had enough goal threat at times and that’s why we put him on.

“He’s somebody who has come in full-time and has to learn and work on the aspects of physically where he is at compared to who he is coming up against. He’s definitely got the intelligence for it.”

Robby McCrorie got his first Rangers start of the season against Dumbarton on Saturday and admits he wants more action.

The 25-year-old goalkeeper has played second fiddle to Jack Butland this season but was given his chance by Philippe Clement in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at a wet and wild Dumbarton stadium.

McCrorie, whose last start before this weekend was away to St Mirren in May 2023, made a good save in the first half from Michael Ruth but in the end the cinch Premiership side ran out easy 4-1 winners.

Goals from John Lundstram, Cyriel Dessers, skipper James Tavernier – from the spot – and substitute Scott Wright rendered Matthew Shiels’ goal a consolation for Stevie Farrell’s League Two side.

McCrorie, who has had loan spells at Berwick Rangers, Morton, Queen of the South and Livingston, told Rangers’ YouTube channel: “It feels like a long time. Obviously I want to be playing a lot more than I am.

“I just like the feeling that you’ve contributed, being a part of it, just playing 90 minutes.

“It’s just something I always want to do. I think everybody is the same, that’s all you want to do in football, play games so I just make sure I’m ready for whenever I’m called upon.

“I’m not going to lie, I don’t enjoy not playing.

“I do want to be playing every week but you can’t go in a huff, you do need to be ready all the time.

“So I take a lot of pride in working hard every day, giving everything in training because I think when you do that and you come into games, you’re more comfortable and you’re ready for it.”

Rangers return to cinch Premiership duty against Hibernian at Easter Road on Wednesday night.

The Light Blues, who had a January training camp in Spain, are eight points behind league leaders Celtic but have two games in hand.

McCrorie said: “The last couple of weeks we’ve got in a lot of training but it is to set us up for the next few months.

“It will be relentless, it will be non-stop, there will be games every three days again and there is a lot to look forward to.”

Rangers boss Philippe Clement was hit by another injury blow after loan attacker Abdallah Sima was sent home from the Africa Cup of Nations with a thigh injury.

The 22-year-old Senegal attacker has scored 15 goals since arriving on loan from Brighton in the summer.

The Senegal FA confirmed Sima would return to Rangers after he picked up the injury in training and a statement warned he could face a “long period of unavailability” after failing to get any minutes in the tournament in the Ivory Coast.

The issue of injuries has peppered Clement’s time at Ibrox since the Belgian took over from Michael Beale in October and again a key player looks to be sidelined for a  period of time.

Clement watched Rangers win through to the last 16 of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup with a 4-1 win over Dumbarton in wet and wild conditions

Goals from John Lundstram, Cyriel Dessers, skipper James Tavernier – from the penalty spot – and substitute Scott Wright proved too much for Stevie Farrell’s men, who scored a consolation through Matthew Sheils.

Asked about Sima’s situation, Clement said: “It is always dangerous to hear those things when they happen when you are not there.

“I always like to hear what my medical staff think about things so Abdallah is going to come back as fast as possible.

“I was in contact with him yesterday.

“He is going to come back as fast possible to make a good assessment and to see how long he will be out.”

The Gers boss was pleased that his side “did what I asked, to be professional” against League Two opposition.

Lundstram is one of five first-team players out of contract at the end of the season but Clement has not given up on the prospect of the former Sheffield United midfielder staying at Ibrox.

He said: “It is a financial thing between him and the club.

“Both parties show interest to do that, that’s clear, so we are going to see in the next couple of weeks and months.

“He is in a situation where he can sign somewhere else but it is clear that he feels good at the club and everybody tells me he is showing a better level than he did at the beginning of this season, so I want to see him continue like that then I think there will be a solution between the two parties.”

Sons boss Farrell questioned referee Alan Muir’s decision to award Rangers a penalty at 2-0 when Carlo Pignatiello tackled Rabbi Matondo inside the box.

He said: “We have the live feed as most clubs do and I watched it back straight away and it’s not a penalty.

“I said to the fourth official when we scored (3-1) that it would have made it a five or 10 minutes, real intense and difficult for Rangers (had the penalty not been given) but the reality is he gave the penalty, they got it and scored it.

“Ultimately I think we did very well, and gave a good account of ourselves.”

Rangers made their superiority count in a routine 4-1 Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth-round win over League Two Dumbarton

Philippe Clement’s men returned to competitive action following the winter break and dominated on a poor, rain-soaked pitch before midfielder John Lundstram headed in at the back post in the 35th minute.

Striker Cyriel Dessers knocked in from close range just four minutes from the interval.

Stevie Farrell’s spirited side limited their cinch Premiership opponents to fewer clear-cut chances in the second half but Gers skipper James Tavernier scored a penalty in the 78th minute and, although Matthew Sheils headed in a consolation for the home side, Gers substitute Scott Wright restored the visitors’ three-goal lead moments later with a powerful finish.

The sodden Dumbarton Stadium pitch passed a lunchtime inspection and the tiny stadium with one stand was packed to its 2,000 capacity with dozens of ticket-less fans outside the ground.

Dumbarton’s back-up goalie Harry Broun was in for loan keeper Jay Hogarth, who was unable to face parent club Rangers.

For the Gers, Robby McCrorie took over from number one Jack Butland in goal but there was a familiar look to the Rangers side with new loan signing Fabio Silva on the bench.

The pitch cut up from the start as rain cascaded and Broun soon had to make a save from Dessers before Gers attacker Rabbi Matondo lifted a Ross McCausland cut-back over the bar.

Dessers drove another two efforts over the bar as the visitors’ dominance continued although, in a rare attack by the hosts, McCrorie had to move smartly to make a save from Michael Ruth at his near post for a corner that came to nothing.

It was a Rangers corner from midfielder Todd Cantwell which brought the opening goal, defender John Souttar heading on and Lundstram finishing at the back post.

The goal relaxed the Light Blues and Dessers made no mistake with his left foot after latching on to a cross from Tavernier, taking his tally to the season to 10.

Matondo came close with an effort at the start of the second half before Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack and Tom Lawrence came on for Ridvan Yilmaz, Cantwell and Nico Raskin.

Still the rain came teeming down.

From a well-worked Dumbarton corner just after the hour-mark Ryan Blair had a shot from the edge of the box blocked for a corner which caused no damage other than to remind the Light Blues there was still work to do.

Silva replaced Dessers before before referee Alan Muir judged that Dumbarton’s Carlo Pignatiello had fouled Matondo inside the box, with Tavernier powering in the penalty.

Shiels’ header from  a Ryan Wallace free-kick with two minutes remaining gave the home fans something to cheer about.

However, Wright, on for Matondo, finished off a pass from McCausland for Gers to finish on a positive.

David Martindale hopes Livingston can take confidence from tasting victory for the first time in 14 games with their 2-1 Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers.

The Lions are six points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership and have not won in the league since October.

But they are in the draw for the fifth round of the cup after Jamie Brandon cancelled out Jack Hamilton’s early opener for Raith and Dan MacKay’s header settled the tie in the 82nd minute.

Martindale was full of praise for his players.

He said: “I hope there is going to be a bump from it, momentum is huge in football.

“Results breed confidence. Hopefully the players can take some credit, I think we’ve played better and been beaten.

“If Raith had taken their chances early doors they might have been out of sight.

“I do think the players have to take huge credit.

“I thought we started the game unbelievably bad. We went a goal behind and were lucky not to be two behind. We got the penalty and missed that.

“At that point, it would have been really easy for the players to feel sorry for themselves, especially with the run we had been on.

“But, from that minute onwards, I think the players have to take huge credit. They found a way to win a game of football and they did that, nothing to do with Davie Martindale, the staff, tactics, formations.”

Livi won without the services of star attacker Joel Nouble, who Martindale revealed had been left out following a bid from a club in England.

He added: “I’ve had a wee bit of interest in Noubs from two teams in League One in England. There’s two teams in the Scottish Prem too.

“A club from down south put an offer in yesterday and it’s not a million miles away from where I think we need to be.

“I went back to them and explained that and said, ‘look if you tidy up that, tidy up that I reckon we can get this done’.

“I spoke to Joel, he was a bit disappointed that I was pulling him out of the squad but I felt it was unfair on him and potentially us.”

Meanwhile, Raith manager Ian Murray reckons his side should have won and hopes pushing top-flight opposition so hard will inspire them in their Championship title race with Dundee United.

Following a draw with Kilmarnock and defeat to Hibernian in the Viaplay Cup earlier in the campaign, he said: “I think days like this whet the appetite for where we want to be.

“Every time we’ve played Premiership sides this season it’s been really tight and once again we put so much into this one.

“We created a lot of chances and didn’t take them – some of the misses were unfortunate, some of them were poor.

“Against this higher level of opposition, though, you need to be more clinical.

“That’s the bottom line in cup competitions. We could have been ahead before we scored and then in the second-half I thought we were better than them.”

Player-manager Rhys McCabe felt his Airdrieonians side were worthy of their Scottish Cup win over St Johnstone.

Craig Levein’s men were on the end of an upset thanks to Nikolay Todorov’s goal nine minutes into the second half, with the Championship side knocking out their top-tier opponents 1-0.

“I think we deserved the win,” McCabe said. “Before, the message was come and show anyone watching the game that we are a good footballing team when we are on it.

“Focus on the performance levels and if we do that we can compete. When we are on it we are a good side and I think we can compete with anyone in Scotland, especially here at home. It’s a real kind of cauldron, the pitch suits us and suits the way we want to play.”

McCabe knew that coming up against a former international manager in Levein would present his side with a stiff test, but he was pleased to emerge on the right side of it.

“It’s not often you get to test yourself,” he said. “It gives you a wee gauge to where that next level is and ultimately I’m trying to get these boys, the young players, to that level and beyond.

“This is a top-level SPL side and ex-Scotland manager, so he’s no mug.”

Levein was bitterly disappointed but had little complaints about the outcome.

The St Johnstone boss said: “That was a difficult, difficult watch and I thought, firstly, Airdrie deserved to win.

“All credit to them – I’m not taking anything away from them but I thought we were really poor.

“We never, at any point, fixed it. We continually gave the ball away and we have good players who have proven they can keep the ball and build up the play through the middle of the pitch to give us chances to score goals.

“We have to look at the footage and work out what went wrong. I pretty much know what went wrong here, then we (need to) get on the training ground this week. We’ve only got a couple of days before the Aberdeen game to try (and get) ourselves back where we were.”

Nick Montgomery praised Hibernian striker Christian Doidge after he secured a 1-0 victory over Forfar in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth round.

However, the Hibs boss was not happy with his side’s performance as they grew frustrated at not breaking down the League Two side, with Joe Newell seeing a penalty saved in the first half.

Doidge scored the winner after 69 minutes but also showed his heroics at the other end in the 11th minute, clearing a Matty Allan header off the line when the hosts were on top.

It was the Englishman’s fifth goal of the season and the former Central Coast Mariners coach was quick to praise the contribution of his talisman.

Montgomery said: “I’m really happy for Doidgey to get the goal and to get into the next round because you see some of the other results, these games are difficult and all the pressure is on us.

“Doidge is good in the box, we know that. He’s had a tough season with the eye injury then the groin injury but he’s always a threat in the box. He times his jumps well and that was the perfect Doidgey goal.

“I’m happy to get away with a clean sheet, not a pretty performance. The first half was nowhere near good enough. But the second half we were more than good enough to win.

“I’m glad you weren’t standing outside the dressing room at half-time!

“We made it difficult for ourselves but the boys responded second half and I told them afterwards we have to start better.

“Then we miss a penalty and give them another lift. So I said to the boys at half-time that we needed to be better at defending, stop making silly decisions, giving free-kicks away.

“I thought we were much better in the second half and, apart from the goal, had another couple of chances.”

Forfar Athletic boss Ray McKinnon did not think Newell’s first-half spot-kick merited referee Ross Hardie pointing to the spot.

He said: “It was a great save from the penalty – but it was never a penalty. Justice was done there.

“I’ve not seen it but one of our coaches thought we should have had a penalty as well. Andy Munro had a header and a guy has cleaned him out.”

Stephen Robinson was pleased to avoid an upset against Queen of the South and progress into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.

St Mirren dominated their League One opponents and prevented them from having a shot on target but had to wait until the 71st minute to seal the win.

Alex Gogic was left completely unmarked in the box to head home Greg Kiltie’s cross and ease any nervousness amongst the home support.

There was no VAR in operation as the impressive Kiltie had two goals ruled out for offside, and Robinson believes both decisions were questionable.

“The two goals which were offside, the second was definitely onside,” Robinson insisted. “It was a great move, stuff we have worked on during the break. The first one, we think he was onside as well. It would have made the game more comfortable.

“We’ve worked on set-plays, we scored one, we should have scored three or four. They haven’t had a shot on target, so it shows you how dominant we were but they are a very hard side to break down.

“I’m delighted we kept moving the ball and getting it into key areas.

“It’s a credit to Queen of the South who were organised, as we expected, Marvin (Bartley) is a bright young coach. I thought we dominated the whole game.”

Premiership sides Ross County and St Johnstone were both knocked out by lower league opposition and Bartley was left ruing Lee Connelly’s glaring missed chance in the first half as Queens failed to record an upset.

He said: “If you get an opportunity then you need to take it.

“Lee was in a good area and on any other day then he probably hits it first time because he’s too close to the goal for the goalkeeper to save it. I would have taken it first time but I’d probably have sent it straight into the stand.

“Can I take heart from it? No, because I go into every game expecting to win it.

“I’m proud of the players but we are talking about a goal that was avoidable and a chance that we should’ve taken.

“I’m never going to sit here and say that I take heart from losing. I’ll never, ever do that and the day that I do then I might as well stop managing.”

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes admitted his side have their sights set on a return to Hampden Park after they got their Scottish Cup campaign underway with a deserved 2-0 victory over Dundee.

Killie flew out of the traps in their first game for three weeks, with Kyle Vassell prodding home the opener inside 20 seconds and Marley Watkins adding a second with a header two minutes later.

The hosts reached the semi-finals of the League Cup last season, before falling at the quarter-final stage in the Scottish Cup last term and the League Cup this time around.

McInnes – whose side have beaten both Celtic and Rangers already this campaign – insisted his team had the confidence to reach the latter stages once again.

He said: “It was a brilliant start. When the draw was made it was such a tough cup tie for both teams. You see other games are a bit more simplistic on paper and you’re always mindful coming back after a break.

“As daft as it sounds, although we got off to such a strong start, I thought we looked a bit rusty. We were maybe not quite game ready but we scored two very good goals and we got ourselves in front.

“The intention is to try and get to Hampden of course. That’s the intention, that’s the hope. The one thing about today’s game against a tough opponent is it was a home tie. You are obviously looking for that again.

“Last season we lost to Celtic in a semi-final but never managed to beat the Old Firm. This season we’ve beaten all the best teams in Scotland and we’ve shown on our day we have a performance in us that can beat anyone.

“It’s important we have the confidence to deal with cup ties wherever it takes you, whether it’s at a challenging place or if you are favourites at home. It’s important to have the motivation, the intention and the confidence to try and go all the way.”

Dundee manager Tony Docherty, meanwhile, bemoaned his side’s slow start as they failed to recover from the two early blows.

The Dens Park boss also took exception to Luke McCowan’s disallowed goal which would have halved the deficit inside the opening 10 minutes.

He said: “You can’t expect to come to a place like this and give away two goals within two minutes but I have to give huge credit to the players for doing what they did after that.

“We had a perfectly-good goal chalked off for offside. I don’t know why. The referee said Dara Costelloe was offside but he was nowhere near the ball when it went in.

“The players put in a real honest endeavour to get back into the game and I thought that was a really pivotal point to get to 2-1.

“It was a mountain to climb but I have to give credit to the players for giving the effort that they did.”

Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan believes the Jags’ Scottish Cup triumph over Ross County was testament to the fans and players who made the same journey at the end of last season.

The 2022/23 campaign ended in Dingwall disappointment for Partick, with County coming from three goals behind to win a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the Premiership play-off final.

However, there would be no such drama in this Scottish Cup tie, with Partick easing to a 3-0 victory to progress into the fifth round of the competition.

“It’s probably testament to the ones who are still here that they have shown no signs of a hangover,” Doolan said.

“We’re doing well in the league and playing well and there was no fear of coming back up here. We played well that day too, but we’ve learned lessons fast from that day.

“I’m a fan myself, so I felt as traumatised as anybody.

“It was great to see the backing, everywhere we go it’s incredible and it was nice to give them something back.

“It’s a long way to come up, we understand that, so we’re delighted to have given them something to cheer about and a performance to be proud of.

“We were adamant we would give them that to get into the next round.”

Ross County manager Derek Adams admitted his players made basic mistakes that cost them the contest.

The Staggies boss made a triple change at half time, which he said was indicative of how below par his side were over the opening 45 minutes.

“As a manager, I shouldn’t have to do that,” Adams said.

“The players weren’t doing the basics right and when you make basic errors at this level, it’s a huge problem.

“Partick were better than us. The way that they started the game was brighter and they got on to the ball and created some openings.

“We were just getting into the ascendancy when they went 1-0 up and over the afternoon into the second half we created a couple of good opportunities that we should have taken.

“The story of the season is that we haven’t been clinical and we haven’t defended well enough. That’s why we were defeated today.”

Alex Gogic scored the only goal of the game as St Mirren booked their place in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup with a 1-0 win against Queen of the South.

Queens are languishing in seventh place in League One but produced a spirited display to frustrate the Scottish Premiership side until Gogic headed home from Greg Kiltie’s corner after 71 minutes.

The Paisley outfit spurned several good opportunities, with Hearts loanee Harry Stone impressing in goal for the visitors.

St Mirren, who handed a debut to Celtic loanee Kwon Hyeok-kyu, dominated possession from the start, with their first real chance arriving in the 12th minute when captain Marcus Fraser’s header was tipped over by Stone.

The hosts looked to have broken the deadlock after 19 minutes through Greg Kiltie. Jonah Ayunga found space beyond the defence and his shot across goal was parried by Stone and Kiltie tapped into an empty net as the linesman raised his flag.

It appeared an incredibly tight decision but with no VAR in operation, the goal was disallowed.

Queens barely ventured into their opponents’ half during the opening half hour but Lewis Gibson spurned a promising counter-attack opportunity when he dallied on the ball in the box and Fraser made an excellent block.

The visitors’ back five were frustrating the hosts and they were forced to try their luck from range when the dangerous Kiltie fired just wide of the post on the half hour.

Queens did carry a threat on the break, though, and Lee Connolly should have scored from six yards but he inexplicably tried to take a touch and the danger was cleared.

St Mirren started the second half in the ascendancy and Elvis Bwomono was denied a certain goal with a rasping shot by a superb goal-line clearance from Efe Ambrose.

The visitors began to ramp up the pressure and Scott Tanser saw a stunning effort smash off the crossbar after 54 minutes.

The game became scrsappy after a bright start to the second half, but St Mirren eventually opened the scoring when Gogic powered a header past Stone.

Queens looked deflated and barely threatened Zach Hemming as St Mirren comfortably saw out the final 20 minutes.

Motherwell overcame a spirited showing by League One Alloa to progress into the last-16 of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup after a 3-1 victory.

After the visitors found themselves behind after just 48 seconds, Conor Sammon would coolly curl home to bring them level with 27 minutes on the clock.

There was a nervous air around Fir Park, though Georgie Gent’s goal on the hour-mark and Blair Spittal’s sublime free-kick with three minutes left secured Well’s place in the next round.

The hosts made the ideal start when they opened the scoring after just 48 seconds. Adam Montgomery did well to pick out Spittal and his effort crept over the line after crashing off the underside of the crossbar.

Stuart Kettlewell’s side looked in complete command, though they would be stunned as Alloa struck on the break.

Sammon latched on to Taylor Steven’s flick-on and the striker punished his former side with a curling shot beyond Liam Kelly.

Suddenly, there was a nervousness about Well and the home supporters voiced their displeasure at their side’s performance on the half-time whistle.

Early in the second half, it took an excellent low save from Kelly to keep out Quinn Coulson’s header from finding the bottom corner – forcing Kettlewell to look to his bench.

Lennon Miller was introduced for his first appearance in almost three months – and it was to provide the spark Motherwell desperately required.

On the hour mark, Harry Paton slipped the ball into the path of the onrushing Gent who slammed low beyond Morrison to restore their lead.

Gent was involved minutes later when he pounced on Euan Deveney’s poor pass before being brought down by Scott Taggart.

John Beaton was quick to point to the spot but Spittal’s penalty was brilliantly parried away by Morrison.

Keen to avoid being pegged back for a second time, the Premiership side sought further goals. Miller’s strike from distance flew inches past the post before Montgomery then shot into the arms of the Alloa keeper.

Andy Halliday was introduced from the bench for the final 13 minutes and the game would be put beyond doubt when Spittal added his second of the afternoon with an unstoppable free-kick into the corner.

Two goals in the opening three minutes sent Kilmarnock on their way to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Dundee in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

Kyle Vassell got the hosts off to the dream start after just 20 seconds, nipping in after Dundee goalkeeper Adam Legzdins and captain Joe Shaughnessy had failed to clear, before Marley Watkins’ header two minutes later extended the lead over their stunned visitors.

Dundee had a goal disallowed through Luke McCowan but they were unable to threaten a comeback as Kilmarnock secured a deserved win.

Killie boss Derek McInnes had made just two changes from their last match against Rangers before the winter break, bringing in David Watson and giving a first start to goalkeeper Kieron O’Hara.

Dundee, meanwhile, made three changes with Legzdins, Lee Ashcroft and new loan signing Dara Costelloe in from the start.

It was a first appearance of the season for Legzdins and he endured a nightmare start, failing to come out to collect a simple David Watson pass, allowing Vassell the chance to prod home within the opening minute.

The visitors were shell-shocked and it soon got worse for them as Watkins powered home a header from an inviting Danny Armstrong cross to make it 2-0 in the third minute.

In a frantic opening to the match, Dundee thought they had got back into the match after seven minutes as McCowan’s shot from distance found the net via a deflection but referee Don Robertson had spotted an offside infringement inside the packed Killie box.

The game settled down a touch after the crazy opening 10 minutes, with Dundee enjoying more of the ball without troubling O’Hara.

Both sides looked dangerous from set-pieces and Watkins should have grabbed his second with a header from another Armstrong cross, while Dundee debutant Costelloe also missed a golden headed opportunity from a McCowan delivery.

Legzdins’ difficult afternoon ended in disappointment as he was forced off after 37 minutes and replaced by Harrison Sharp.

McCowan was looking the most likely for the away side and his fizzing shot went narrowly wide of the post in the 45th minute but it remained 2-0 at the break.

After an end-to-end opening period, the second half proved a cagier affair with neither side creating any chances of note until Matty Kennedy’s long-range drive in the 64th minute forced Sharp into a smart stop.

Vassell should have put the game beyond any doubt as he went through on goal in the 70th minute but his touch took him wide and allowed Sharp to make a routine save.

The Killie captain also tested Sharp with a header from the resulting corner but he was again unable to add to his earlier goal.

Dundee handed a debut to Curtis Main and Kilmarnock gave their own to Greg Stewart following his re-signing for the club, in a second half that lacked any fluidity.

O’Hara had to be alert to keep out an Owen Dodgson cross in the dying moments but the goalkeeper managed to maintain his clean sheet as Kilmarnock saw out the game comfortably to secure their safe passage into the fifth round.

Dan Mackay handed Livingston their first win in 14 games as the Premiership side came from behind to beat Raith Rovers 2-1.

The on-loan Hibs forward headed home in the 82nd minute of an entertaining contest to send the Lions into the Scottish Cup fifth round.

Mackay, who replaced the injured Cristian Montano in the first half, also set up Jamie Brandon for his team’s equaliser after Jack Hamilton gave Championship title hopefuls Raith the lead after only five minutes.

Rovers more than held their own against their top-flight counterparts, who also missed a first-half penalty through Andrew Shinnie, but the hosts showed great character to earn a much-needed morale-boosting win.

Raith came flying out of the blocks and had two good chances even before they broke the deadlock.

Lewis Vaughan got the byline and swung in a low teasing cross that Hamilton failed to bundle in from close range.

The pair combined again moments later as hitman Hamilton nodded the ball down to his team-mate but Vaughan’s shot from close range was repelled by Shamal George.

The Lions failed to heed those warnings and Hamilton opened the scoring.

Ross Millen lumped a long ball forward and the striker had time to chest it down before firing a low shot through the legs of Lions goalkeeper George.

Livingston finally began to settle following an erratic start but it was Raith who went close to adding a second.

Aidan Connolly launched a left-footed drive from outside the box just past the post.

Livingston then wasted a great chance to level from the penalty spot in the 21st minute.

Shinnie was brought down by Kyle Turner after dispossessing the midfielder.

The experienced midfielder took the spot kick himself but his effort hit the post and rebounded off keeper Kevin Dabrowski before rolling to safety.

But Livingston did level in the 33rd minute through Brandon. ]

Mackay, who only came on for the injured Montano minutes earlier, found the wing-back at the back post and Brandon lashed a shot past Dabrowski.

The action was end-to-end in the second half too. Raith had chances through Connolly and Callum Smith before Vaughan hit a free-kick over the bar.

At the other end Stephen Kelly should have at least hit the target from 12 yards when he connected with Mackay’s cut back but the midfielder fired well over.

Raith full-back Liam Dick then had a shot palmed over before the hosts grabbed the winner.

Kelly lifted a teasing cross into the area and Mackay headed a powerful effort past Dabrowski from six yards.

A Nikolay Todorov goal nine minutes into the second half was enough for Championship Airdrieonians pull off a shock and knock Premiership outfit St Johnstone out of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup with a 1-0 win.

Todorov pounced from 10 yards to score his fourth goal in as many matches after Liam McStravick’s cross was hooked back in at the far post.

St Johnstone should have heeded the early warning signs after a poor backpass by Saints Midfielder Graham Carey let in home captain Adam Frizzell.

He ran into the box and got a shot away but it produced a superb save from Bulgarian goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov, who dived low to his right-hand side to keep it out.

Airdrie had claims for a penalty when a low cross from the left came off a St Johnstone player inside the area but referee Kevin Clancy quickly turned down the appeal.

St Johnstone had chances and new signing Benjamin Kimpioka thought he was going to mark his debut with a goal when he rounded Airdrie keeper Josh Rae, but the Swedish striker ran out of pitch as he tried to find the back of the net.

In the second half, Mason Hancock header over Charlie Telfer’s free-kick, before Todorov fired home from inside the area to put Airdrie 1-0 up.

Craig Levein’s side pressed for an equaliser with striker Kimpioka racing through on goal, but Rae was quickly off his line to tackle him. Kimpioka went down under the challenge but referee Kevin Clancy was not interested.

Carey then had a 20-yard strike saved by Rae as the home side held on.