Craig Gordon was Hearts’ hero, save twice in a Scottish Cup penalty shootout victory over St Mirren in Paisley.

Mikael Mandron gave the hosts a well-deserved lead during a period of intense first-half pressure, tapping in from close range after Gordon parried a Mark O’Hara attempt. Hearts forced extra time as late substitute Calem Nieuwenhof scored with his first touch. Caolan Boyd-Munce saved St Mirren with a goal-line clearing from Elton Kabangu on 98 minutes, before a dull stretch of extra time. Veteran Scotland veteran Gordon denied Oisin Smyth and James Scott from the penalty spot, before Gerald Taylor missed for the visitors, but James Penrice held his nerve to put Edinburgh into the quarter-finals, where they will face Dundee. Gordon was under pressure for large stretches of the first half as Hearts struggled to cope with St Mirren’s direct approach.

Toyosi Olusanya flashed a shot over the top, and Jamie McCart had to make a front-post block when the forward sped by Gordon to throw in a dangerous cross. Hearts posed little threat before the break, although Kabangu had home custodian Zach Hemmings at full stretch to block a powerful shot. Olusanya and Killian Phillips threatened after the break, but the Edinburgh squad answered with Blair Spittal shooting over and having an attempt blocked. Nieuwenhof, returning from an 11-month injury layoff, was the unusual source of Hearts’ equaliser, sweeping home from 10 yards moments after coming off the bench.

With a flurry of substitutes and the pitch cutting up, the game grew scrappier the longer it went on, leaving Gordon to make the headlines late into the evening.

Neil Critchley, manager of Hearts, said: “We’re thrilled to have a home draw and to be in the quarterfinals. “You know you’re going to have to execute the basics extremely well here, like competing with and without the ball, which I didn’t believe we did well enough in the first half. “We grew into the game, but we didn’t have as much control as we’d like. “We had to fight and scrap and it’s taken a big effort to get through.” St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson said, “We were really good in the first half and could have easily won the game.

“We’re quite dissatisfied with the goal we conceded; we had two chances to clear it but didn’t. “It goes to penalties, which are a lottery. I believe we should have had a penalty in extra time as well. It is not often that I make comments like that, but it seemed obvious to me. “I can’t question the boys’ attitude or desire, the people that stepped up to take penalties showed a lot of bravery.”