I went into the game on Saturday against Motherwell full of confidence that we would run out comfortable winners so it is safe to say by the end of the ninety minutes, I was a tad disappointed.
This was also another game where defensive mistakes would gift the opposition a couple of goals and basically a point. We lost a silly goal right at the start of the game. If you look at the highlights and see where the ball landed in the box and where all the defenders are standing, why the hell are any of them not going with the ball? Instead they wait about and it is not until the Motherwell player gets the ball that you see any movement.
As disappointing as it was to lose an early goal, to level the score quite quickly was fantastic. It was a lovely ball from Greg Stewart to Paul McGowan in the box and an even better finish. I am sure Paul will not mind me saying that his finishing has not been the best this season and with his end product hitting row W more times than being on target, the relief to finally score was evident in his celebration.
From then on it was Dundee who controlled the game. Hemmings came close but hit the side netting, Stewart got himself into a good position but his effort was comfortably saved by the goalie and Rory Loy missed an absolute sitter from about four yards out when he rattled the underside of the bar. It was only a matter of time before we took the lead.
How wrong we were!
Against the run of play, Motherwell took the lead from an excellently worked goal but also one that we could have easily of dealt with. These words seem to be the norm when writing this article every week!
Dundee stood back as Stephen Pearson ran at the defence, played a one two, then waltzed through our defence to slot the ball home. The lack of any challenge was frustrating to watch and again we were back to being behind.
The second half consisted of Dundee having most of the ball but Motherwell hitting us on the break. When we had the ball in the opposition box, the ball just did not seem to drop for us in a favourable position. We huffed and puffed but there was never any breakthrough for us.
Motherwell did have a chance to claim all the points. Hitting us on the break, Pearson ran towards the Dundee goal and instead of going himself to score his second of the game, he played the ball inside to his teammate to score. Fortunately for us he was in an offside position when the ball was played so we were let off the hook massively.
We would eventually make the breakthrough with just a few minutes to go when we were awarded a very dubious penalty. I said at the game it never looked like one and after watching the highlights, I still think we were very lucky to be awarded it.
Beggars cannot be choosers though and I am not going to argue with the referee if he is offering us a chance to get a point. Hemmings was able to steady himself to slot home his sixteenth of the season, get us a point and send us back into the top six. We also nearly grabbed a winner after substitute Craig Wighton set up new signing Arturo but their keeper done well to keep it out.
With nine points separating fourth to eleventh, all three points would have been a welcome boost for us and also would have seen us go level on points with St Johnstone in fifth. This was a missed opportunity in my eyes.
This Saturday sees us venture to Dumbarton to take them on in the last sixteen of the Scottish Cup. Cup runs and Dundee have not gone hand in hand the past few years but there are high hopes that we can at least get to the semi-final stage. Obviously this all stems on the luck of the draw but a win against a Dumbarton side who are sitting seventh in the Championship will give us a massive boost that we can go a long way in the competition.
The thing about this year is that everyone is capable of beating anyone. You only have to look at the Premiership to see just how closely all the teams are. I do however fully expect us to win this game comfortably.
Yes, Dumbarton will be up for this. Yes, they will be dreaming of taking the scalp of a big team. Yes, they will want to get a dream tie in the next round for a day out. We on the other hand should have more than enough talent at our disposal to make sure this does not happen.
This is Dundee we are on about though and as I said, the club and cup runs have not been the best of friends lately.
