Dumbarton fought bravely but eventually fell to a 6-2 defeat to Dundee at Dens Park in the Betfred Cup as they were knocked out of the competition.

The Sons took a deserved 2-1 lead into half-time, via Frazer Wright and Gregor Buchanan, the first time a Dumbarton team had ever scored two goals away at Dundee in their history.

But it was not enough for Stevie Aitken’s side as tiredness began to tell and the Premiership side eventually overpowered the visitors, scoring five second-half goals.

This was a much-improved performance compared to their previous two outings in the cup.

However, Dundee’s quality shone through and a hat-trick from Greg Stewart, a Kane Hemmings double and Darren O’Dea’s goal gave them a comfortable win in the end.

The home side scored first via a Stewart free-kick after 16 minutes.

He whipped in a cross, and the ball drifted straight into the goal with keeper Mark Brown expecting someone to get a touch on the ball.

But the Sons equalised 10 minutes later with a scrappy goal via Wright, his first goal for the club.

Paul Hartley’s men failed to clear Ryan Stevenson’s corner, and Robert Thomson attempted to prod it in, but the defender scrambled it over the line to bring the visitors level.

And the Sons doubled their tally before half-time, Thomson came close but his attempt crashed off the bar, and Buchanan calmly fired it into the bottom corner of the goal.

Aitken’s men were looking to pick up their first win against the Dens Park side since 1984.

But Dundee came out of the blocks quickly in the second half, with Hemmings bringing the scores level again just after the restart.

And as the home side began to control the game, Brown was forced into a fantastic quickfire double-save before the hour mark.

The hosts continued to pile on pressure, with Stevenson scrambling the ball off the line after 68 minutes.

But the pressure finally told, with Dundee scoring four goals in the last 18 minutes.

Stewart’s free-kick was turned in by O’Dea, as he powered his header in after 72 minutes.

Dundee went further ahead with Stewart changing from provider to scorer, staying cool to fire in from just inside the box.

And the Premiership side began to turn the screw as man-of-the-match Stewart bagged his hat-trick and Hemmings put the game beyond doubt.

Dumbarton host Peterhead on Saturday at 3pm.

Dundee: Mitchell, Holt, Vincent (O’Hara, 61), O’Dea, Stewart, Loy (Teijesse, 76), Duffy (Williams, 67), Hemmings, Etxabeguren, Ross, Kerr

Subs not used: Bain, Black, Curran, Wighton.

Dumbarton: Brown, Pettigrew, Docherty, Buchanan, Stevenson, Todd, Fleming, (Kasserate, 80), Thomson, Smith, Wright, Stirling

Subs not used: Barclay, Barr, McCallum, Clark.