Dundee show old defiance

Defiance carried Dundee a long way last season as they went on a long unbeaten run after taking a 25-point deduction following administration. There were some suggestions that they might not have the same sense of mission during this campaign and a jittery start to the season seemed to confirm this. Yesterday, however, they rediscovered a cause as they held out for nearly an hour after Stephen O’Donnell’s pair of two yellow cards and then snatched it at the death through a clinical finish from Nicky Riley.

Raith, apart from a burst of activity just before the break, were disappointing and looked like side who will struggle following the loss of so many key personnel in the summer.

There was a curiously languid air to the game, typified by a poor start, with the visitors’ Ryan Conroy creating the only decent opening with a good turn before promptly squandering it with a wayward shot.

This was to be Conroy’s last meaningful contribution, however, as matters turned upside down for Dundee when O’Donnell, shown a yellow earlier for a mistimed challenge, picked up a second and the red when he went up for a header with his elbows flailing and Raith’s Allan Walker in close proximity. Conroy was sacrificed as Dundee manager Barry Smith sought to reinforce his defence by bringing on Ross Chisholm.

It was as if someone had passed the smelling salts around the Raith players as they suddenly burst into life, seeking to exploit their numerical advantage. The shots started raining in on Rab Douglas, who proved that he still presents a formidable barrier to any First Division strike force by repelling everything that was thrown at him. A couple of stops from Brian Graham – a close-range shot and header respectively – were outstanding and he also threw himself to good effect to deny a couple of blistering efforts from John Baird.

Having established their superiority before the break, Stark’s Park was anticipating that the home side would up the pace still further on the restart, but it took John McGlynn’s men quite a while to get going as Dundee’s ten men offered stuffy resistance.

Raith slowly regained their momentum but whilst there were more than a few unadorned clearances from the under-pressure visitors’ defence, it was noticeable that Douglas, having been fully stretched in the closing 15 minutes of the first half, was now little more than an interested bystander. The home side showed energy and willingness aplenty but a lamentable absence of creative spark to their play. “I don’t think we did enough to win the game, but I also don’t think we deserved to lose it”, reflected a downcast McGlynn afterwards.

There was, however, to be a twist in the tail – despite both sides seemingly accepting the inevitability of a share of the points. Dundee mustered one last push upfield and won themselves a corner. Jamie McCluskey’s set piece landed at the feet of Nicky Riley who manoeuvred himself into a shooting position and then buried the ball beyond McGurn to seal the ultimate sucker punch.

For the Dundee manager it was the gutsy display his side put in after losing O’Donnell that gave him most satisfaction. “The resilience pleased me as much as the result,” Smith said. “We kept a clean sheet and worked ever so hard to get a result and it was just a great finish from Nicky”.