On This Day.....1973

On Wednesday 28th November at Hampden Park Dundee beat Kilmarnock 1-0 to reach the Scottish League Cup Final, the winning goal was scored on the 55th minute by Tommy Gemmell with a shot.The crowd that day was a poor 4,382 likely a lot to do with the three day week due to the miners strike. I can remember this time as l would have 12 years old.

News From Dens Park.....

Dundee take on Livingston away from home on Saturday in the 3rd Round of the Scottish Cup, and prices are pretty good; Adults £15, U18's and Over 65's £5.  

Striker Colin Nish will miss the cup game and the Dundee Derby at Dens on the following Sunday, due to his sending off on Saturday.

Paisley Saints Down 10 Men Dundee...

St Mirren 3 Dundee 1, St Mirren Park, Premier Division, 24-Nov-12

The basement battle went the way of the home side when they beat Dundee 3-1, by reports Dundee took time to settle and were starting to take control of the game when Colin Nish got sent off for a reckless high tackle which left the Ref with no choice to give the striker a straight red card. This put Dundee on the back foot and Thompson put the Paisley Saints 1-0 up four minutes later. In the second half Dundee battled well and got their reward when Goodwin handled a Milne cross and Ryan Conroy scored from the spot to level the game. But with 19 minutes to go Thompson scored with a fine header. In the final minute Imrie made it 3-1 when he shot past Rab Douglas via a deflection off Conroy.

Dundee: Douglas, Irvine, Benedictus, Gallagher, Conroy, Riley (Boyle (89), McBride, Davidson, McAlister, Nish, Milne ( J.Baird (78). Subs Not Used: A.Baird, McGregor, Toshney, Webster.

Ref: W.Collum

Att: 4, 825

From the highlights l seen Rab Douglas pulled off 3 great saves and it looked like the team battled well for the 90 minutes so we can take a lot of positives from this.

Action From the Hibs Game...

Dundee 3 Hibernian 1, Dens Park, Premier League, 17-Nov-12

Dundee produced their best performance for League leaders Hibs when they came to Dens Park Saturday. Manager Barry Smith was again able to put out the same team which played at Fir Park.

Dundee went at Hibs from the off and never gave them time to settle, but ex-dee Leigh Griffiths looked dangerous for the Hibees but luckily the defence kept him at bay. Early on both Milne and Riley could have scored as the Hibs defence looked a bit nervous, but on 21 minutes Kyle Benedictus scored from a McAlister corner to score with a stunning finish into the top corner from the edge of the box. It send Dens Park wild and Dundee pushed forward looking for the second goal and could have a penalty after Milne was fouled in the box, soon after Davidson headed wide with a header from another great cross from McAlister. Hibs did have a couple of chances with Witherspoon shooting wide and failing to connect with a header.

Into the second half and in the first minute is 2-0 to the Dee a great cross from Lockwood and it found Gallagher unmarked from his header down the ball was stabbed home by Savo Milne it looked a tight decision but both officials ruled a goal. Then as Hibs were trying to recover it was 3-0 a long ball from Gallagher sent Colin Nish into the box he was adjudged to be fouled and up stepped Kevin McBride to drill the ball home from the spot.

Dundee were now in total command the home fans in full voice it was a great feeling, Leigh Griffiths brought out two good saves from Rab Douglas, then Colin Nish just about made it 4-0 but the Hibs keeper saved his shot on the turn with his feet. Griffiths did score on the 90th minutes but it failed to take the shine off a fine home win. Again the whole team played well and it sets up the game at St Mirren next Saturday.

Dundee:Douglas, Irvine, Lockwood, Benedictus, Gallagher,Davidson, Riley (Conroy 82), McBride, Milne (Baird (80), McAlister, Nish (Toshney (90).  Subs Not Used:   A.Baird, McGregor, Webster, Boyle.
 

Ref: Colvin

 

Att: 6,743

Motherwell Action

Motherwell 1 Dundee 1, Fir Park, Premier League, 10-Nov-12

Dundee returned to Fir Park for a league game for the first time in around eight years. The team carried on from last week with a very good performance. First there was a minutes silence for Remembrance Day which was not well planned with the players not standing around the centre circle, and with the tannoy system not very clear it took around 30 seconds for people to realise it had started. But thankfully it was well respected after that.

To the game and Dundee started brightly and forced Motherwell back with some neat attacking football with the midfield and defence playing well. Savo Milne was unlucky with a shot from the edge of the box. The home side did have some good chances with Rab Douglas saving well from Nicky Law, then Gary Irvine saved a certain goal when he cleared with a overhead kick near the goal line.

Dundee took the lead after some great interlinking play from Riley and McAlister, and when Nicky Riley burst into the box he finished the move with a brilliant finish across the keeper. This sent the Dundee fans wild in the away end.Motherwell scored with the last kick of the first half from a shot from Ojamma Rab Douglas made a great one handed stop, but Higdon was quickest to tap the rebound home for the equaliser.


Second half and as the first half it was end to end football with Dundee playing some great football, the defence is looking a lot better and that helps the whole team to perform better. Dundee did have one great chance but Colin Nish could not find the needed finish. Motherwell did have the ball in the net but it was ruled offside it looked the right decision.

In the end a draw was a fair result and I'm happy enough with the way the team played, it makes a big difference when the defence is settled and we are able to play with two strikers. The return of Kevin McBride has helped the midfield. The whole team played well which is pleasing to see from a fans point of view.

Dundee: Douglas, Irvine, Lockwood, Benedictus, Gallagher, Davidson, McBride, McAlister, Riley (Conroy 71), Nish, Milne (J.Baird 85). Subs Not Used: A.Baird, Toshney, Boyle, McGregor, Webster. 

Ref: J. Beaton

Att: 4,318

Next up is Hibs at Dens on Saturday which will be a tough game, but Dundee must have a go and see if we can produce the same level as the Hearts game 2 weeks ago.

Motherwell Photos




 

Livi in the Cup..........................

Dundee will play Livingston away in the Third Rd of the Scottish Cup, the tie will be played on the 1st of December. Of late we have a good record there so hope this continues.The other ties are listed below:

Aberdeen v Motherwell

Partick Thistle v Dunfermline Athletic

Kilmarnock v Queen of the South

Hibernian v Hearts

Airdrie United or Raith Rovers v Deveronvale

Turriff United v Albion Rovers or Morton

Rangers v Elgin City

Forfar Athletic or Nairn County v Ayr United

Ross County v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Celtic v Inverurie Locoworks or Arbroath

Dumbarton v Hamilton Academical

Cowdenbeath v St Johnstone

Stranraer or Queen's Park v Dundee United

Stenhousemuir or Berwick Rangers v Falkirk

St Mirren v Brechin City or Bonnyrigg Rose

Matches to be played on the weekend of 1/2 December

Dundee v Hearts Highlights

Dundee 1 Hearts 0, Dens Park, Premier League, 03-Nov-12

Hearts Programme

What a difference a week makes with Dundee winning their first home game this season. A well deserved 1-0 win over Hearts who had reached the League Cup Final Semi-Finals in midweek.

Dundee started very well and took the game to Hearts and were rewarded after 21 minutes when after a sweeping move Irvine was pushed which the ref had adjudged to be on the edge of the box. Up stepped Matt Lockwood who smashed the ball home for a wonderful free kick goal. It did set up Dundee who kept playing fast football with the defence playing well to keep Sutton and co under control. Rab Douglas did have a couple of saves with Declan Gallagher making a superb block to stop a certain goal. Just before half time and Colin Nish should have scored when a long Lockwood pass put him clear he rounded the Hearts keeper but his shot came back off the covering defender.

Second half and Dundee kept coming forward and might have scored two further goal with Nish,and Baird unlucky to see their efforts saved or blocked. Gallagher was unlucky to see his side footed finish go wide after making a great run into the six yard box.Hearts did have chances as well but nothing major withe t he Dundee defence standing firm to earn three very welcomed points.

I think the whole team played well and they all worked their socks off. Also l like the pairing of Benedictus and Gallagher the youngsters both done well.

Dundee: Douglas, Irvine, Lockwood, Gallagher, Benedictus,McAlister, Davidson, McBride, Riley, Milne (Conroy), Nish (J Baird). Subs Not Used: Baird, Webster, Boyle,Toshney

Looking forward to my trip to Motherwell next Saturday to see my Motherwell mates George, Paul, Calum and Jim. Have known these lads for 30 years or so.

Team News

More bad news on the injury front at Dens Park with the news that defender Brian Easton will be out for around two months. Good news is that Captain Stephen O'Donnell is close to fitness now and hopefully be on the bench tomorrow when Hearts visit Dens Park.

Let's hope that we rise and show fight as we need points now before the gap gets any bigger. With seven defeats in a row it's as bad a run as l can remember. In season 1982-83 we just had 9 points at this stage and went on to stay in the league with just 29 points, the mad thing is we finished 6th that season. Kilmarnock went down with only 17 points, Morton also went down with 20 points.