St Mirren 0-1 Dundee extras: Player of the match, letdown, turning point, ref watch, gave us a giggle
Player of the match
Take your pick from several Dundee candidates. Ryan Sweeney was solid at the back, Charlie Adam pulled strings in midfield, Cillian Sheridan led the line well for his hour of involvement but Paul McGowan covered every blade of the SMiSA Stadium against his former team and was given a standing ovation as he left the park.
Letdown
St Mirren’s wide players Kyle McAllister and Scott Tanser got very little change for their efforts and were well marshalled throughout. With Eamonn Brophy and Curtis Main in the box the big targets were there to be found, but they just couldn’t get forward to deliver crosses to them often enough – Main in particular.
Turning point
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Hide AdDundee really took advantage of Adam Legzdins’ two-handed push to deny Marcus Fraser the opener. Zipping forward after the header was saved, and converting within seconds of the save, it really was a turning point which made the difference to the outcome of the game.
Ref watch
John Beaton had been central to the discussions over VAR this week following his penalty award for Rangers in midweek. Video assistants won’t intervene in contested throw-ins and aside from a half-hearted penalty claim from Eamonn Brophy just after the interval, Beaton had a fairly comfortable 90 minutes and emerged without significant incident or deciding role in the game. He wouldn’t quite escape the home support’s criticism though – awarding Christie Elliot a corner in the 97th minute for a shot screwed well wide and no Saints player near him, nor the ball’s path, that anger an already frustrated fanbase.
Gave us a giggle
The might not have been laughing much during the 90 minutes but the Conor McCarthy fan club – presumably made up of the defender’s vociferous family and friends sat in the stand in rows below the press benches – cheered his every move or mention and contested many decisions on his behalf early on, even to the extent of distracting the stadium match announcer reading the pre-match team lines. However, as matters deteriorated for Saints on the field, so too did their early enthusiasm.