HEARTS – 8-8-15
From the euphoria of leaving Rugby Park last Saturday to leaving Dens after a 2-1 defeat to Hearts, Dundee fans must be wondering how they didn’t have that match sewn up before half time.
I wasn’t able to make the game because I was at a wedding and my pleas to the Bride and Groom to postpone the ceremony until after 5 fell on death ears so I had to do with watching the full game on Dundee’s new TV service, DeeTV. What I saw was basically what most Dundee fans have said after the game, brilliant the first half but a totally different team in the second.
The positives that we can come away from the defeat all come from the first 45 minutes. We can play the ball about. We can create chances. We can control the game. All we need to do is find that killer touch to put the game out of reach. If we had Rory Loy playing then I think we could of saw the Hearts game put to bed before half time as he seems like the Center Forward that we have needed since Peter MacDonald left who will get himself in the type of positions to put the ball away.
Some negatives I’ve noticed with us is we could do with being a little tighter at the back because sometimes you feel like screaming to the players to just ‘blooter the baw up the field’ instead of passing it about and putting pressure on the players around them. Obviously the biggest negative was the whole second half display but I’m positive that Hartley will have already gave the team the bollocking they deserved for it.
Despite the defeat, we have the making of a very good team. I know we are only 2 games into the season but the players we have in the squad now have all shown what they are capable of. I feel a top 6 finish should be easy enough to achieve with them and I’m pretty sure they feel the same also.
DUNDEE UNITED – 11-8-15
What a game that was! From a neutral point of view it must of had everything but from a fans point of view you must have hardly any nails left over.
We we hammered United in the 1st half but just couldn’t put away our chances. We didn’t let them play, closed them down and outplayed them at every opportunity. Then came the dreaded ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ performance.
The he start of the second half saw us lose our influential skipper Kevin Thomson through injury and it all just seemed to fall apart. In quick succession, United managed to go 2-0 up and give the Dundee fans a bit of déjà vu from the other games where we have totally fell apart against them. Their first goal was more from sloppy defending but n complaints can be made about the 2nd which was well taken after we needlessly gave up possession in midfield. It was not to be a lost cause though.
Greg Stewart would yet again score against United to bring it back to 2-1 with a beautiful goal and set up an edgy last 10 minutes. This would prove to be the case for both teams. United nearly made it 3-1 but for an fantastic save by Bain to tip the ball into the crossbar. The home team would then try to run out the reminder of the game by punting the ball and taking it into the corner. Ultimately this idea would not pan out the way they hoped.
With 3 minutes into injury time, another hopefully punt was attempted by United but the ball would fall to Telfer who would fall over the ball and give it to Harkins. Gary would then take a shot before it was spilled by the keeper and up stepped out defender/stand in striker James McPake to slide home the equaliser.
Joy, relief and pandemonium erupted in the Dundee end as we knew we had done enough to save a point and do so in style. We stayed behind to cheer off our players while the home support scuppered to the exits to head home to their beds early.
So as the heading goes, both these games have been a tale of two halves. We should of had both of them won by the interval but that’s football for you!
MON THE DEE!
