DUNDEE now have a home Betfred Cup quarter-final tie against Celtic to savour, their neighbours United will turn their focus to trying to escape from the Championship, while for everyone else there is only a sense of regret that this was probably the final meeting between these teams for another year. The football fixture list is undoubtedly poorer without the regular presence of the Dundee derby.
Ten days after losing at home to their rivals in a group stage penalty shoot-out, Dundee earned their revenge following another thrilling cup tie that ebbed and flowed from end to end. It was whole-hearted, committed and passionate, all the things you would expect and hope from for a derby. Dundee’s celebrations at full-time told how much it meant to players and supporters alike. For all they crowed about United being forced to slum it in the second tier for another year, they will surely miss these occasions over the remainder of the campaign.
Every derby needs a hero and on this occasion it was Paul McGowan, the former St Mirren forward whose first-time shot that spiralled across goalkeeper Harry Lewis proved to be the winning goal after 64 minutes. McGowan did not stint in his celebrations, running two-thirds of the way back up the pitch to cock an ear to the United support who had been taunting him throughout the tie. It left his manager beaming.
“I’m so proud of my boys,” said Neil McCann. “I really wanted another shot at United because we deserved to win the first game. When these occasions come around you have to savour them and tonight we absolutely showed we are the better side. We’ve pulled the cracker out there [getting Celtic] but if you are going to win it you will have to beat them at some stage I would imagine.”
Dundee undoubtedly deserved the victory on balance of play although almost paid for their first-half profligacy. They had unleashed fire and fury on United and yet still somehow found themselves only level by the break. That told a story of their wastefulness and United’s ability to withstand the barrage, and then score with their only shot on target.
Marcus Haber saw a looping header drop just off target, Roarie Deacon lashed in a shot that clattered into the billboard, while Scott Allan was wasteful after being picked out by the lumbering Haber. When Faissal El Bakhtaoui then squandered a one-on-one chance it began to look as if Dundee could graft away all evening and still not score.
When they did eventually find a way through after 30 minutes, it was with their most difficult chance of the night. Deacon’s cross was headed out by William Edjenguele to the lurking El Bakhtaoui who atoned for his earlier sloppiness by thundering in a drive via the underside of the crossbar.
“He has thunder in his boots,” said McCann poetically. That ought to have given Dundee a platform to construct a comfortable victory. Instead, the celebrations merely served to wake the neighbours. Belatedly, United started to come back into the match and, after a couple of half-chances, they found their equaliser after 40 minutes, Sam Stanton picking out Billy King at the back post who couldn’t miss. Hard as it seemed for Dundee to fathom, United were back level.
Finally we had the competitive, end-to-end contest we had expected with both sides trading chances and bone-juddering challenges throughout the second half. Scott McDonald, barely seen in the first half in his first United start, was inches away from getting his toe to a Paul McMullan cross, while at the other end a Jack Hendry header spun just the wrong side of the far post. McGowan, though, would be more clinical six minutes later, leaving United to brood over a painful loss.
“It was the fine details that cost us,” lamented manager Ray McKinnon. “We didn’t fire enough bullets at their goal.”
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