For the second time in six months, a cup tie between Hearts and St Mirren ended in penalties in Paisley. In contrast to the Edinburgh club’s Scottish Cup victory back in February, this time Saints were the victors. They triumphed 5-4 on spot-kicks as Malik Dijksteel struck the decisive effort to take his team into the quarter-finals. Claudio Braga was the unfortunate Hearts player who saw his penalty saved by the opposition goalkeeper Shamal George. Malik Dijksteel struck the decisive penalty for the hosts. Alex Gogic opened the scoring in the first half of this tie with a stunning volley, but Oisin McEntee’s header brought the visitors level in the summer sunshine. This was far from a vintage Hearts display, it must be said. Head coach Derek McInnes made sweeping changes with a triple half-time substitution following a sub-standard opening 45 minutes. That helped his team gain a foothold in proceedings at 1-0 down, and they equalised on 78 minutes after concerted pressure. Both teams put an enormous amount of effort into this tie and Hearts tried everything to win it before penalties arrived. Nine out of 10 were scored and Dijksteel showe admirable composure to convert the decisive effort in front of the away support. Hearts haven’t won this competition since 1962, while St Mirren lifted the trophy by beating the Edinburgh club in the 2013 final. More recently, Hearts knocked Saints out of the Scottish Cup in that February tie. Only two players from the visitors’ line-up that night started this match - striker Lawrence Shankland and midfielder Cammy Devlin. McInnes had lost only four of 40 previous encounters with St Mirren as a manager. Goalkeeper Ryan Fulton was missing from the Hearts squad through injury so Harry Stone took his place on the bench. Rrecent signings Tomas Magnusson and Pierre Landry Kabore made their first starts in maroon in midfield and attack respectively. Alexandros Kyziridis, Stuart Findlay and McEntee were the other summer signings in McInnes’ team against a physical and familiar 3-5-2 St Mirren system. With Hearts in a 3-4-3 formation, the hosts had an extra body in central midfield. They took advantage of the numerical advantage and fashioned the game’s first chance as strikers Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga combined, the former’s shot from an acute angle repelled by visiting goalkeeper Zander Clark. Kabore made his presence felt with a 17th-minute aerial challenge on the St Mirren keeper George, which was both late and incurred the wrath of Paisley locals. Clark produced a good low save to his right to push Killian Phillips’ 22-yard drive away as Saints pressed their opponents aggressively high up the pitch. Consequently, Hearts players found no time on the ball and their passes were going astray too often. In the technical area, McInnes roared at his defence to get themselves higher and avoid inviting pressure by sitting deep. They were soon facing a deficit, though. On 33 minutes, Phillips touched a free-kick sideways to Declan John around 30 yards from goal. The Welshman delivered it into the penalty area, where Gogic found space in between Shankland and Frankie Kent to volley first-time beyond Clark from eight yards out. It was an emphatic finish and, at the interval, there was no denying St Mirren deserved their 1-0 lead. Hearts needed improvement - hence a triple substitution as Beni Baningime, Claudio Braga and Elton Kabangu replaced Magnusson, Kabore and Kyziridis. Tynecastle defender Craig Halkett suffered a head injury in the final minutes of the opening half and, after treatment, played on sporting a bandage. He appeared to take a boot in the temple from Phillips whilst attacking a free-kick inside the hosts’ penalty area. Clark sprung to his left to push away another effort from distance by Phillips shortly after the restart. Gradually, the Edinburgh side began asserting themselves. They repeatedly delivered balls into St Mirren’s final third but many of them were in the air. Braga dribbled through on 68 minutes with nice footwork before George held his final shot. He then rasped a powerful strike which the keeper parried for a corner minutes later. Eventually, on 78 minutes after switching to 4-4-2, Hearts forced an equaliser. Halkett had gone off after limping on an ankle knock, so Milne and McEntee were now playing as opposite full-backs. They combined to score. Milne swing a high corner to the back post and the onrushing McEntee headed powerfully downards into the net at the back post in front of 1,476 away fans. Once again, a set-play had produced a Hearts goal. Ross Grant, the club’s set-piece coach, was seen in conversation with McEntee prior to the corner being taken and is clearly doing a worthwhile job on this season’s evidence so far. Saints were not hemmed in their own third for long spells as Hearts pushed for a winner, but the end of regulation time arrived with the teams locked at 1-1. St Mirren shunted into a four-man defence for extra-time but their guests continued to probe without creating many clear chances. Both teams were fatigued, which contributed to a lull in play, although it was maroon shirts who looked hungrier to win this tie and remove the need for penalty kicks. It didn’t happen, and this tight cup tie moved on to the drama of spot-kicks in front of the travelling support. Shankland was first up and scored to George’s right before Richard King’s low shot squirmed beneath Clark’s dive. Stephen Kingsley slotted home his penalty and Fraser struck his high into the net. Braga’s shot from the spot was then saved low by George. Roland Idowu’s converted via the underside of the bar to give Saints a 3-2 advantage. Forrest calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, and Evan Mooney fired another high kick beyond Clark. George was booked for gamesmanship before Beni Baningime fired high into the top corner. Dijksteel then drove the final penalty to the right of the diving Clark to send St Mirren through to the quarter-finals 5-4 on penalties. Here are the Hearts player ratings from Paisley