Six Goal Thriller At Dens

Six goals, a sending off, a good few penalty shouts and a couple of near misses at the end. That is what football is all about.

The visit of Ross County was never going to be an easy tie. They are in fine form at the minute and flying. They also have not tasted defeat against us in ten games and are unbeaten in the Premiership against us.

Before I get into the game, I would like to give a mention to a special remembrance that occurred over the weekend in the city and one which was heavily acknowledged at Dens Park.

It was the one hundred year anniversary of the ‘Battle of Loos’, one that impacted Dundee as a city and the surrounding areas. Around 21,000 soldiers lost their lives in that battle, more than 7,000 were Scottish. The whole country felt the effects of the battle but none more so than Dundee when 57% of the 4th Battalion of the Black Watch would either be seriously injured or killed on the first day of the battle. This battalion was dubbed ‘Dundee’s own’.

 

 

Dundee Football Club gave away 3,000 tickets to veterans and serving Scots and also wore a specially designed strip with the black watch colours as a tribute. This was a fantastic gesture from the club.

On to the game now and it was a bit hit and miss with some fans on social media regarding our performance but I felt we played quite well and were hit with three sucker punches to hand them their goals.

All three goals were gifted through our defensive frailties. Their goal was from a tight angle but goalkeeper Scot Bain should have had it covered easily. The second goal was a massive blunder and I am still 50/50 who was at fault – McPake or Bain. I am not certain if Bain gave McPake a shout or not. The third was one that had me shaking my head in disbelief though. One of the smallest players on the park beating our centre half to a header at the back post was criminal in my opinion. Maybe the fact it was a former Dundee United player who was the one that scored made me think this way.

We did of course score right after their opener with a finely taken goal by that man with the magic left foot, Greg Stewart. I was still astounded how we went in at the break 3-1 down.

 

 

The second half brought more drama than the first but it helped us get right back into the match. McPake was correctly brought down by the County captain in the box and with a yellow card to his name already, was correctly sent off and a penalty awarded. Rory Loy, who was making his home debut, stepped up and smashed the ball home.

Right from the kick off, Dundee were right at County and getting in their faces. It was inevitable that we would score but we had some near misses before we did, most notably Aston Villa youngster, Ricardo Calder who put the ball over the bar from about eight yards out.

The goal came soon after. A great run from Paul McGinn saw Loy find space in the box and an excellent through ball from him resulted in Loy firing the ball home into the corner for his second of the game and the third for Dundee.

We did seem to take the foot of the pedal a bit when we had drawn level but we still had chances to win it before the final whistle. The County keeper pulled off a tremendous save from a Kevin Holt shot and then a Gary Harkins looping header was cleared off the line in the last minute. We also had a stonewall penalty turned down when Stewart was brought down in the box.

The final whistle went and the Dee’s had saved a point which I was very happy with but at the same time I felt hard done by that we could not grab the win. Even still, that second half performance was one that will give the squad great belief in themselves after the thrashing we took at the hands of Celtic.

The forward line of Hemmings, Loy and Stewart is creating numerous chances and one that will test any defence on their day. We can also add winger Ricardo Calder into that category because even though he looked rough around the edges at some points of the match, he was not afraid to take on a man and got himself in a good few positions with his surging runs.

The defence is a worry though. In a 135 minute period, we have conceded nine goals. That is a statistic that nobody wants associated with their team and one that needs work on as soon as possible.

 

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