Dundee 1 - 1 Kilmarnock: Bell’s sound goalkeeping helps Kilmarnock cling on for a replay

Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell admitted to relief that his side remain in the William Hill Scottish Cup after they survived a stern examination from Dundee at Dens Park.

Bell helped secure a fourth-round replay with a 64th-minute penalty save from Matt Lockwood before an excellent double stop late in the game. After Dundee had a goal correctly – but initially contentiously – chalked off, Kilmarnock took the lead against the run of play in the 32nd minute when Manuel Pascali headed home Dean Shiels’ corner. But Dundee, third in the Irn-Bru First Division, levelled 20 seconds after the restart when Steven Milne steered home Ryan Conroy’s low cross.

Kilmarnock exerted some second-half pressure of their own, with veteran Dundee goalkeeper Rab Douglas tipping over Garry Hay’s strike, but Bell said: “We’re obviously happy to still be in the tie. We knew it was going to be a very hard game coming here. We knew they had some really good players and would have a point to prove against an SPL team. I don’t think we were at our best and we are going to have to play better at Rugby Park to win the tie, but we’re just glad to be in the cup.”

Lockwood admitted it was “probably the worst penalty of his career”. “It wasn’t the best of penalties but you need to go the right way to save it,” Bell said. “The hardest thing was to hold it because they were coming in on top of me on a bobbly pitch.” The Scotland international later came quickly off his line to block from Milne before recovering to push away Conroy’s header. “They were a lot harder saves than the penalty saves,” he said. “The header was harder because it was quite wide of me and I tried to get it round the post rather than parry it back out because I think their guy would have finished it. But we had chances as well and big Rab did fantastic himself.”

Killie had an escape when Milne forced the ball past Bell in the 15th minute with no offside flag raised, but referee Stevie O’Reilly belatedly disallowed the goal after consulting with assistant Charlie Smith. Milne had timed his run well from Conroy’s initial through ball but was well offside when Ross Chisholm flicked the ball on.

“I think the linesman missed the second touch through to Milne,” Bell said. “We just said to the ref ‘speak to all of your assistants’. He obviously did the right thing, spoke to him and took his time. I think it was good refereeing because it was a big decision to make and it was the right one.” Dundee manager Barry Smith was delighted with his side’s performance and carries hopes for the Rugby Park replay a week tomorrow. “The boys did extremely well,” Smith said. “We created chances and limited them to just a couple, so we’re happy with the way we played. We do try and get the ball down to pass and play and create chances. We knew Kilmarnock would come here and do the same.

“We know the replay is going to be tough because it’s in their home patch but that’s the way we try and play every week, so we’re delighted they are able to do it at a higher level as well.”