Photos From Oldham.....

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We had a great time in Oldham special thanks to John and Sarah for their hospitality and arranging tickets ect for the metro and the game. Also wonderful meeting up with Malc and having a few laughs about time s gone bye. Also Andrew loved his time his first visit to Boundary Park, it was a long weekend for a 5 year old. We got home at 10pm on Sunday so it was not too late for Andrew.

Oldham Visit....

Seeing I had a free weekend last Saturday I headed down to Oldham with my son Andrew for the Oldham Ath v Charlton game at Boundary Park. It was also a great chance to meet up with John and Malc Kennedy who I first met on The Isle of Man in 1987 while watching Dundee play on The Okell Football Festival on which they lost 1-0 to Stoke City in the Final.

I had booked my train tickets in July and got a real good deal so we left Cupar at 06:25 arriving Manchester Victoria at 11:31, John had come into Mancherster to meet us, and we got the tram to Oldham Mumps. A few pints and something to eat it was time to head to Boundary Park for the game.

We were in the new stand which is very impressive with Hospitality and the club shop ect. It has a bar inside so you can enjoy a pint before or at half-time.

Charlton grabbed an 18th-minute lead when Ricky Holmes unleashed a stunning 30-yard drive into the top corner. Not much Latics could do about that , worse was to follow when Tarique Fosu-Henry doubled the advantage three minutes later, cutting in from the left and firing beyond goalkeeper Ben Wilson from 10 yards.

Oldham responded after 34 minutes as Charlton defender Patrick Bauer was penalised for fouling Craig Davies, who drilled the resulting penalty past the dive of Ben Amos.

The Latics levelled six minutes after the break when the visitors failed to handle a long ball, allowing Eoin Doyle to mark his Oldham debut with a clinical 12-yard finish. However, Oldham were soon down to 10 men as Ousmane Fane received a second yellow card for bringing down Chris Solly.
It was a poor  decision from the Referee which changed the game as Oldham were getting on top.

Charlton capitalised after 62 minutes, Fosu-Henry feeding Billy Clarke to score from close range, and - 10 minutes later - they made it 4-2 when debutant Joe Dodoo went clean through to beat Wilson.
The home side regained hope with Jack Byrne's 20-yard strike eight minutes from time but they lost this fixture by a narrow scoreline to make it five-straight league defeats this season.

Oldham played well and put plenty of effort in and I'm sure that results will come their way soon.

Oldham Ath : Wilson, Gerrard, Clarke, Hunt, Bryan, Banks, Gardner, Byrne, Doyle, Davies
Subs: Edmundson, Mantack, Osei, Placide, Fawns, Fane

Ref: Ross Joyce

Att: 3,592

News From Dens

Kerr Waddle has signed a new deal which will keep at Dens Park until 2019 which is great news for the club, as the young defender has done well this season. 

Tom Hateley has left Dundee by mutual consent, the midfielder signed last September. He played 27 times for the club and gave his best. I wish  him all the best for the future.

 

Dundee have signed A-Jay Leitch-Smith on loan from Shrewsbury Town until January. Striker AJ is a product of Crewe Alexandra’s youth system. He has played in the Icelandic top flight and scored goals where ever he has been on loan.

He will go straight into the first team squad and hopefully his time at Dens will be successful.

Dundee Sign Defender.............................

Dundee FC have signed defender Jon Aurtenetxe on a deal until January, subject to international clearance. 25 year old Jon comes to the club with experience of playing in La Liga having featured over 100 times for Athletic Bilbao and also for Celta Vigo in the top flight.

Jon was with the club last week on trial and impressed Neil McCann and his coaching staff.

He will wear number 15 for the club.

Photos From The Hibs Game....

Dundee 1, Hibernian 1, Dens Park, Ladbrokes Premiership, 27-August-17

Hibernian came to at Dens on Sunday after coming back to earth with the defeat at home to Hamilton last week. After winning their first two league games last week result was a bit of a shock. 

Dundee made one change with Paul McGowan replacing the injured Marcus Haber, Hibs made four changes to their side. Dundee started well and had a couple of efforts on goal, Hibs attacked with pace and Scott Bain saved well.

But it Dundee who scored first when after a good run from Deacon he was fouled inside the box by  Whittaker, and from the resulting Penalty Kevin Holt fired the ball home to give Dundee the lead. 

It could have been 2-0 soon after but Holt's header was well saved by the Hibs keeper, Hibs did go forward but found Scott Bain in good form. But just as it was looking that Dundee would get to half time leading , their hopes were dashed when after a fine move Stokes fired home giving Bain no chance. To be fair a draw was about right at this stage of the game.

A wee mistake from Dundee nearly lead to a goal , but Murray put his effort over the bar when really he should have scored. Dundee tried to go forward , but lacked a main striker to lead the line. Wolters came on for Vincent as they tried to push forward. Hibs came forward but Scott Bain made a couple of good saves to deny the Hibs frontmen

A good point for Dundee on the day, they battled away and hopefully the International break will help with the injuries. 

Dundee: Bain, Kerr (c), Hendry, Waddell, Holt, Vincent (Wolters 57), Kamara (O’Hara 81), Deacon, El Bakhtaoui, Allan, McGowan. Unused Subs: Parish, Hateley, Williams, Spence, Piggott

Att: 6,004

Ref: Don Robertson

Aberdeen Photos

Aberdeen 2, Dundee 1, Pittodrie, Ladbrokes Premiership, 19-August-17

Dundee were very unlucky to leave the granite city with no points, after they matched Aberdeen all the way. They should have taken the lead in the second half when they pushed the dons back.

Manager Neil McCann made three changes following last week’s defeat at Hamilton. Kerr Waddell, James Vincent and Roarie Deacon all started. 18 year old midfielder Jack Lambert was on the bench for the first time. Dundee started well enough and looked dangerous early on. A mistake by the dons defence let Vincent in on goal, but the midfielder lost control and the chance was gone. 

Aberdeen striker Stevie May headed home from a corner to put the home side ahead, it was a poor goal to lose with the marking too slack. Dundee came back soon after and Haber hit the bar with a header which was a good chance.

Dundee worked hard to close Aberdeen down and they lost the ball a lot because of this. Both teams did not create any clear cut chances in the rest of the first half.

Second half and Dundee started really well attacking the dons defence at every opportunity which was good to see, it was no surprise when they levelled on 53 minute. A great run from Roarie Deacon through the middle and he fired a unstoppable shot past Lewis to level the game at 1-1. 

Dundee then missed the chance of the game a sweeping move Deacon and El Bakhtaoui ripped open Aberdeen’s defence with fast movement and passing, setting up Scott Allan, who should have scored but shot wide from 10 yards. 

Aberdeen made chances with former Dee Greg Stewart coming on to replace McKay-Steven. In another move Haber got put clear wide out but his cross was too high and deep for Dundee to take advantage.

Aberdeen then took the lead when with Dundee were down to nine men due to injuries and unable to get the subs on. Stevie May fired home after Dundee has blocked two efforts on goal. Then Scott Bain saved well from Greg Stewart as the dons tried to finish the game. 

A blow for the team as they had played so well today, a big thing l noticed today that for the first time in awhile. Aberdeen were not able to bully the Dundee players.

Next up is Hibernian at home a game where we need to take points, I'm sure they will if they keep this kind of performance up.

Dundee: Bain, Kerr (c), Hendry, Waddell, Holt, Vincent, Kamara (O’Hara 84), Deacon, El Bakhtaoui (McGowan 79), Allan, Haber (Williams 79). Unused Subs: Parish, Hateley, Spence, Lambert.
Att: 15,646.

Ref: Kevin Clancy. 

Dundee Sign Josh Meekings

Dundee have signed Josh Meekings The former Inverness Caley Thistle player has signed until the end of this season. He will add experience to the defence which is badly needed due to injuries.

Josh played more than 150 games for ICT, he came through the youth ranks of Ipswich Town.

Hamilton Accies 3, Dundee 0, Super Seal Stadium, Ladbrokes Premiership, 12-Aug-17

Dundee lost 3-0 at Hamilton on Saturday in a game where they had really good chances early on to go ahead. But it was Accies who scored twice in the first half to take control at half-time.

Second half was much of the same more missed chances at least twice where they should score, and then later miss a Penalty. With five minutes to go Hamilton scored from the penalty spot to seal the three points

A lesson that the players must learn from, and maybe we need a out and out striker who can score inside the box. The team are creating chances but to win games of  Football you need to take them.

I missed the game so I can go to the Hibernian games instead I'm glad that l did given the scoreline.

Next up it Aberdeen (Away) which will be a test 

Dundee: Bain, Kerr, Hendry, O’Dea (c) (Waddell 53), Holt, McGowan (O’Hara 78), Kamara, Wolters, (Williams 32), El Bakhtaoui, Allan, Haber. Unused Subs: Parish, Vincent, Hateley, Spence.

Att: 1,694.

Ref: Bobby Madden. 

United Photos

Betfred Cup Draw

Dundee will play Celtic at Dens Park in the 1/4 Finals of the Betfred Cup after the draw was made after the game last night. Full draw is below;

Hibernian v Livingston
Motherwell v Aberdeen
Dundee v Celtic
Partick Thistle v Rangers

Ties to be played on the 19/20/ or 21 September

Dundee 2, Dundee United 1, Dens Park, Betfred Cup, 09-August-17

Dundee Manager Neil McCann made four changes from Saturday. Jack Hendry came in for the suspended Darren O’Dea, Marcus Haber replaced the injured Sofien Moussa while Paul McGowan and Faissal El Bakhtaoui started instead of Mark O’Hara and Randy Wolters, who were on the bench.

Dundee started in a very positive manner and pushed United but, they seemed really up for this cup-tie. They had a great chance when Haber headed just wide from a Allan corner. I thought it was going in, it was so close. Then Scott Allan blasted over after good play from Haber. 

El Bakhtaoui, and the French striker should have opened the scoring with a chance he created himself.  He robbed Edjenguele and raced clear only to send his shot wide. It was a great chance gone, but soon after it was 1-0 Faissal El Bakhtaoui scored a wonder goal when he lashed the ball home from 20 yards to send Dens wild. 

With the pressure Dundee have put on United it should be at least 3-0, but sometimes it happens when United levelled the game when King scored just before half-time in their first real chance of the game.

Second half and I was surprised that Scott Allan came back out as he seemed to have taken a knock, the team started well again and pushed United back. It was no surprise when Paul McGowan put Dundee ahead with a great composed finish. It was truly a well worked goal and the celebrations were wild in front of the United fans in the Shankley stand.

Both side had chances and it could have been 3-1 when the United keeper saved well from a Haber header. United striker King missed a great chance after a wee mix up in the Dundee box, but he managed to put it well wide.

As Dundee ran down the last  15 minutes or so Wolters and Vincent replaced Deacon and Allan. Dundee held on for a great win, one that they were expected to win. All the players were wonderful tonight and they looked a real threat going forward.

Dundee: Bain, Kerr (c), Waddell, Hendry, Holt, McGowan, Kamara, Deacon (Wolters 75), El Bakhtaoui, Allan (Vincent 84), Haber. Unused Subs: Parish, Hateley, Williams, O’Hara, Spence.

Ref: Steven McLean

Att: 10,472