TEN man Ayr United endured a horror eight minutes as their Scottish Cup dreams went up in smoke.
The Championship side were made to rue a golden opportunity to reach the last eight as they imploded against St Johnstone.
The Honest Men had raced into a fourth minute lead when on loan Ipswich striker Aaron Drinan fired them in front.
But two quick replies, either side of Aaron Muirhead's sending off, ensured the game swiftly turned in favour of the Premiership side.
It had all looked so different for Mark Kerr's men as they began brightly and took a deserved lead.
Grant Gillespie, one of four January transfer window signings, slid a precision pass through to Drinan with the game just minutes old.
And the Irishman stayed cool under pressure to slot past Zander Clark and put Ayr in front.
Saints were on the back foot as Ayr enjoyed all the early possession and looked hungry to add to their lead.
But they were stung against the run of play in the 17th minute when the visitors drew level.
David Wotherspoon's cross from the left was caught in the wind and Callum Hendry's close range header took a deflection off Muirhead on its way past the rooted Ross Doohan.
Ayr were rocked and their afternoon was quickly about to go from bad to worse.
Muirhead, who had already been booked, received his marching orders in just the 25th minute for a robust challenge on Saints' Liam Craig.
Furious Muirhead clearly felt he had won the ball, but ref Steven McLean was in no doubt the nature of the tackle merited a straight red.
And within moments, Ayr's restricted numbers found themselves behind when a Drey Wright cross was knocked home at the backpost by Hendry.
The second half was always likely to be a long shift for Ayr and they were almost behind two minutes after the restart when a Hendry free kick was brilliantly tipped over by Doohan.
Home boss Kerr withdrew himself in favour of the attacking Scott Tiffoney with 54 minutes on the clock as Ayr looked for a route back into the game.
But they were on a hiding to nothing at the back and Saints maintained their grip on the game for long spells of the second period.
Both Craig and Wotherspoon went close with long range efforts as Tommy Wright's men kept the home side at arm's length.
Ayr's last throw of the dice was to send on Michael Moffat in place of Alan Forrest but, in truth, they weren't able to land a blow in the last 20 minutes.
And Saints should have extended their lead as the clock ticked down but Wotherspoon saw his shot tipped on to the post from an angle.
And as the full force of Storm Ciara roared in at the death, Stevie May chipped a wonderful effort off the upright as Saints coasted through to the quarter finals.
