Celtic 0, Dundee 1, Dens Park, Cammy Kerr Testimonial, 16th November 2023

It was a great to attend Cammy Kerr''s Testimonial game last Thurday night at Dens Park. It was great to see so many players from the past , and also Manager's as well.

Celtic sent up a strong young side and they gave a mixed Dundee a decent game,. The first 70 minutes was mainly end to end with currant players buyt the last 20 minutes were time for the older players to grace Dens Park again. 

It was great to see and all of them well given a great welcome with their usual songs from the Dundee fans. The game ended when Dundee got a penalty. Cammy Kerr kept his nerve to send Rab Douglas the wrong way for the winning game.

This a Testimonial which Cammy totally deserves for his commitment to Dundee and his sheer love for the club Cammy supports. 

Dundee FC (up to 70 minutes) 3-5-2. Adam Legzdins, Cammy Kerr (c), Joe Shaughnessy (Ricki Lamie 30), Lee Ashcroft, Jordan McGhee (Ewan Murray 30), Ryan Howley (Luke McCowan 56), Mo Sylla (Callum Lamb 56), Marcel Lewis, Charlie Reilly, Zach Robinson, Diego Pineda

Dundee FC (from 70 minutes) 3-5-2, Julian Speroni, Barry Smith (Darren O’Dea 84), James McPake, Cammy Kerr (Tommy Young 90+1), Jim McAlister, Paul McGowan, Callum Lamb (Craig Robertson 74), Ivano Bonetti, Gary Harkins, Fabian Caballero, Juan Sara (Craig Wighton 88). Unused substitutes: Welsh (gk), Dario Bonetti.

Att: 3,363.

Dundee 4, St Mirren 0, Dens Park, cinch Premiership, 11th November 2023

Dundee made only one change when Malachi Boateng replaced Mo Sylla, who was on the bench. Rest of the subs were the same as last week. 

High flying St Mirren would be a test for the dark blues but they started brightly and Zak Rudden hit the post from eight yards after St Mirren made a mistake. 

But on the next attack Dundee scored when a Owen Beck put in a corner and everyone missed the ball. but Amadou Bakayoko scored with a slow shot from 10 yards out. 

St Mirren showed why they have done well this season but they failed to put better balls into the box, Trevor Carson took all the high balls with ease. 

The second goal arrived in first half stoppage time. Owen Beck’s corner was headed on by Antonio Portales and Marcus Fraser handled. Referee Matthew McDermid had no doubts and pointed to the spot. Zak Rudden smashed the penalty home to put the fans in a great mood at half time.

Second half and St Mirren made four changes to their team, three of them were attacking players, it made little difference with their attacking play and they never trouble Trevor Carson. 

Dundee looked more dangerous on the break and it payed off on 57minutes, Dundee ripped Saints open with a lightning break that brought the third goal. Bakayoko showed strength and skill to get past Gogic on the half way line. He sent Rudden racing into the penalty area. Keeper Zach Hemming saved his fierce low drive, but was helpless when Amadou Bakayko followed up to shoot into the empty net.

The third goal killed the game for the Saints and Dundee looked to add more to theit 3 nil lead. Only chance for St Mirren is when they hit the bar. 

Dundee sent on Zach Robinson on to replace Zak Rudden who had a good game when his hard work and running. 

It payed off  4 minutes later when Bakayoko lost his marker with a quick turn on the half way line and sent Luke McCowan running through the middle. Instead of shooting the midfielder switched the ball into the path of the better placed Zach Robinson who dinked a delightful finish over the diving keeper to make it 4-0.

It sealed a great win for Dundee and it was good to see the players playing well and also goals for the strikers which we have needed. 

It  also wipes out the goal difference and puts Dundee into the top six, also another clean sheet. It sent the Dundee fans home in a happy mood and our first win over St Mirren at Dens in a while.

Dundee: Carson, Portales, Shaughnessy (c), Lamie, McGhee (Kerr 89), Cameron (Howley 89), Boateng, McCowan, Beck, Bakayoko (Pineda 90+2), Rudden (Robinson 81). Unused Subs: Legzdins (gk), Reilly, Robertson, Donnelly, Sylla.

Referee: Matthew MacDermid

Att: 5,496

Dundee 1, Livingston 0, Dens Park, cinch Premiership, 5th November 2023

Dundee made three changes to their team. Jordan McGhee, Lyall Cameron and Zak Rudden started in the places of Aaron Donnelly, Malachi Boateng, who were on the bench, and the injured Scott Tiffoney.

In a pretty poor half Dundee struggled to create chances on goal, too many errors and slack passes did not help. Lamie was unlucky with a header which just went wide. Livingston looked more likely to score and maybe should have scored once. 

Second half and Malachi Boateng was sent on. He took the place of Mo Sylla, who was hardly one of the most wasteful culprits.

But it seemed to work as Dundee looked more dangerous on the attack. They had a couple of headers which went wide. But soon after Dundee attacked again and Zak Rudden was taken out with a tackle which resulted with Livingston going down to 10 men. 

But the Referee was called to view Var and he changed his mind and it was just a yellow card for Sean Kelly. Four minutes later it was a free kick 30 yards from goal. 

It was well worth the wait as Luke McCowan took the free kick and put the ball over the wall and into the top corner to score a wonderful goal. 

After 70 minutes Dundee sent on Zach Robinson and Ryan Howley for Amadou Bakayoko and Lyall Cameron.

Dundee had a few more headers which just went wide, Livingston had the ball for spells but the Dundee defence done well and theu had to at times. 

Zach Robinson was unlucky with a effort as we moved into the final minuts, Dundee scambled the ball away as injury time was ticking away. Then Trevor Carson made a great save from a deflected shot which he got a hand on the ball. It looked like it was going in.

Finally the final whistle blew and it was three more vital points for Dundee, and another clean sheet.

Dundee: Carson, Portales, Shaughnessy (c), Lamie, McGhee, Cameron (Howley 70), Sylla (Boateng at half time), McCowan, Beck (Donnelly 90), Bakayoko (Robinson 70), Rudden. Unused Subs: Legzdins (gk), Kerr, Pineda, Reilly, Robertson.

Referee: Alan Muir

Att: 4,769

Dundee 0, Rangers 5, Dens Park, cinch Premiership, 01-November-23

Dundee made three changes to the Dee’s starting eleven. Ricki Lamie, Scott Tiffoney and Amadou Bakayoko came in for Jordan McGhee, Lyall Cameron and Zak Rudden, who were all on the bench.

The game finally kicked of at 20:45 due to Rangers team bus arriving late at Dens Park, and then the smoke from the away end caused the game to stop again. The players left the pitch, before returning to restart the game.

It a poor start for Dundee when Rangers scored after three minutes, they had a few chances in the next 20 minutes, but Dundee stopped them scoring. Dundee did have a few chances but nothing much to trouble the Rangers keeper. 

As half-time came l had to make the hard decision to head home and miss the second, public transport is not great after 22:30. The game would go on until at 22:40 likely and i would miss the last 15 minutes anyway. Also my son Andrew was at the game and he had to get home as he is still 11 and has school.

Dundee make two changes when Cammy Kerr came on for Rickie Lamie, with Antonio Portales moving to central defence, and Zak Rudden replaced Scott Tiffoney.

Rangers scored again early and with 20 minutes to go it was 3-0. Dundee had a chance at 2-0 but the Rangers keeper saved twice from McCowan and Bakayoko.

Dundee kept working hard but never got back into the game, Rangers added two more goals the 4th one came after a break when the Referee got in the way to stop McCowan getting the ball. Then in injury time they got a penalty when Var ruled a foul in the box.

Dundee will play Livingston on Sunday where l will see the 90 minutes.

Dundee: Carson, Portales, Shaughnessy (c), Lamie (Kerr at half time), Donnelly. Tiffoney (Rudden at half time), Sylla, Boateng (Howley 71), McCowan (Cameron 85), Beck, Bakayoko (Pineda 78). Unused Subs: Legzdins (gk), McGhee, Reilly, Robertson.

Referee: Kevin Clancy

Att: 8,970