In the sombre shadow of that big volcanic clump, you could say Dundee found themselves stuck between a Dumbarton Rock and a quarter-final place.

A 0-0 draw in the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup at the romantically titled Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium means these two teams will have to do it all again next week. Dumbarton won’t mind that, of course. The hosts put in a disciplined, dogged performance to earn a deserved replay. In the last four meetings between these two sides down the seasons, Dundee had scored 15 goals but the Dens Park side couldn’t find a way through yesterday as Dumbarton’s defensive line remained as fortified as the town’s castle.

The visitors had chances, they had most of the possession and they forced 12 corners. Dumbarton, in contrast, had to wait until the 88th minute before they got a corner of their own but nobody was caring about the statistics at the final whistle. “To compete against a top six Premiership side, I have to give the boys a lot of credit,” said Dumbarton manager, Stephen Aitken. “Our shape was right and the work rate was right too. We had to work all over the park and everything I asked of them, they’ve done it.”

It may mean another fixture in the diary but Dundee manager Paul Hartley took the draw with a nonchalant shrug.

“We totally dominated the game and I didn’t think we were under pressure but we just didn’t have that killer instinct,” he said. “It was always going to be a potential banana skin and I have to give Dumbarton credit for the way they set up and worked. But we are still in the cup and that’s a good thing.”

These cup ventures into unfamiliar territory can be treacherous affairs and on a heavy, sodden pitch, that was given a right good pitch-forking prior to kick off, the terrain was decidedly dicey. The visitors quickly found their feet, though, and began with plenty of gusto. On five minutes, Nick Ross battered in a low drive which rattled back off the post and Rory Loy could only thump the rebound into the grateful clutches of the sprawling Jamie Ewings.

Gary Harkins then gave Ewings something to think about when he sent in a curling, swirling free-kick which the Dumbarton keeper, perhaps sensibly given the conditions, punched away to safety.

Dundee were certainly seeing plenty of the ball but their patient probings didn’t have an end product as the Dumbarton rearguard remained steadfast and sure. Mark Docherty illustrated this spirited resolve as Dundee came close to making a breakthrough with eight minutes of the half remaining. Kane Hemmings found himself clear on goal but having clipped the ball over the advancing Ewings, Docherty managed to stretch a sliding leg and houk it away just before it dribbled over the line. The succession of pats on the back and high-fives he received from his grateful team-mates underlined the importance of the intervention.

It was more of the same after the resumption, with Dundee ploughing forward and Dumbarton performing plenty of defensive chores. It wasn’t very pretty, with wild swipes, sturdy blocks and thrashing clearances, but Dumbarton were doing the ugly stuff required to keep their increasingly frustrated guests at bay. Those frustrations grew a bit more when Hemmings breached the home back line but was flagged for offside before he plonked the ball into the net.

Dumbarton’s forays up field had been of the lesser spotted variety but a rare advance on the hour did provoke some concerned mutterings among the visiting fans. A deep cross from Tom Walsh almost picked out Christian Nade at the far post, but the burly former Dundee striker just couldn’t extend his leg far enough to make a connection and the ball drifted wide.

The longer proceedings went on, the more the hosts grew in stature. Dundee seemed to be running out of ideas while Dumbarton’s resolve showed no sign of waning.

It was turning into one of those games that was going to be decided by either a moment of magic, madness, misfortune or a combination of all three. It seemed the breakthrough wouldn’t come from conventional means. A cut-back from the byline gave Arturo, a Dundee substitute, a clear sight of goal but he could only trundle an effort straight at Ewings. His despairing hands on the head stance said a lot about the afternoon.