It was overcast but warm as Dundee prepared to take on Craig Brown’s Preston North End in the first of two home friendlies before the league business begins next Saturday. The park is in magnificent condition and though an estimated crowd of just over 2,000 was a bit disappointing the fans were looking forward to some good football.
In a chat with Lee Wilkie before the game I told him myself and a lot of Dundee fans, in support of his midweek call for abstention from the demon drink, had decided to throw away our pint tumblers as a mark of respect. Now why didn't he believe me? He laughed and said every paper had misquoted him. Yes, he was drinking much less than before and had changed his eating habits, but no, he hadn’t become a monk and given up the odd weekend tipple. But he took our kind offer in good spirits and couldn’t stop laughing about his misquote appearing in almost every paper in the land.
Dundee line up with Langfield in goal; a back 4 of Mair, Smith, Wilkie and Hernandos; in midfield we have Slatter, Nemsadze and Rae; with 3 up front, Novo, Caballero and Milne. 7 subs are named and all would play at some point in the game.
Trialist Hernandes shows some neat early footwork, his first touch is perfect and he has a sweet left foot when he outfoxes a Preston attacker and leaves him for dead.
Giorgi Nemsadze begins to settle and in the early stages of the game he was magnificent, showing all the old skills and passing that he’d shown before his injury last season. One pass almost sent Milne clear in on goal, only a last despairing defender’s foot preventing that happening.
Caballero, too, was looking sharp, and in one move he cut inside two players from the left, taking him into the box but his cut back is scrambled clear with two Dundee players ready to pounce.
David Healy should have given Preston the lead but hit his shot high over the bar from just inside the box when a goal looked odds on.
Slatter had been fairly quiet, but one superb 1-2 with Novo gave him a chance and his curling shot from outside the box swerved just inches over the bar.
Ricardo Fuller was delightful to watch every time he touched the ball and in one move he set himself up for a shot and it missed by a whisker with the Dees in the Bobby Cox applauding his fine effort.
The left foot of Hernando almost gives Dundee the lead. More of a chip than a cross he picks out Novo coming in from the right and the wee Spaniard, stretching for the ball, sends it just inches past. Nacho had played wide on the right with Cab and Milne in more central roles.
Giorgi Nemsadze showed trickery and great footwork when with 2 players wrestling him for the ball he comes out with it at his feet and starts another Dundee attack going.
Novo and Caballero are showing some great understanding and when Nacho sets Fabian up his right foot shot fades inches away from giving Dundee the lead they would have deserved at this point.
Just to show how out of luck Dundee were a Novo corner from the right is met perfectly by the head of Lee Wilkie but the post comes to the rescue of the Preston men .
Caballero, who had looked much more like the player of old had another go for goal after yet another left foot ball in from Hernando and this time the shot is straight at the keeper. A Caballero dribble and shot followed by a neat move between Cab and Milne are the only moves of note in the dying minutes of the first half.
Summing up, the first half had been all Dundee and had we led by 2 or 3 goals I doubt if Preston could have complained. Caballero and Novo up front had looked at times to be the dream partnership, Nemsadze in midfield looked to be marshalling the team well and at the back we were seldom in trouble with Wilkie and Hernandes perhaps looking the pick of the defence.
Speroni replaced Langfield and received a huge roar of support when he came on for the second half, which he acknowledged.
Nacho Novo was behind most Dundee attacks and at last he looks like getting the opener. A through ball seems to be heading harmlessly to the keeper but Nacho gets a foot to it and to his dismay the ball hits the legs of the keeper at the expense of a corner.
A great Wilkie double tackle prevents Preston taking the lead at the other end.
Robb replaces Slatter and seconds later Smith makes perhaps his one error in the game, dallying on the ball and allowing Fuller to win possession. Barry pulls him back at the expense of a free kick but as the last man many expected a red card to be shown. The referee, however, was in the "friendly" spirit.
From the resultant free kick a superb 3 man passing move by Preston almost gets them the opener only a super save by Speroni keeping them out.
Back at the other end Novo shows neat skills, outfoxing his man before cutting in and sending a perfect pass to Caballero. Fabian’s effort hits the legs of a Preston player when it seemed to be netbound.
With half an hour to go Sara replaced Caballero and from then on Dundee were seldom seen as an attacking threat. At the same time Ian Anderson, ex Dark Blue favourite came on to a huge ovation from the Dundee fans.
Preston seemed to have upped the pace at this point and Dundee were looking more and more likely to concede a goal. Nemsadze had lost his sparkle in midfield, understandably so, he’s still trying to get fully match fit. Rae had been almost a non event for most of the game. Some felt we should have pulled a striker off and played with 4 in midfield and 2 up front, but Dundee persisted with an attacking formation on the park.
Fuller showed some brilliance in the box and his cut back was cleared desperately by the dark blue defence.
Cruelly, Dundee lost two goals in as many minutes, first when a low corner kick was met brilliantly by PAUL MCKENNA who took it first time, the ball rocketing under the bar for a brilliant strike. Some were adamant it was Ian Anderson who scored, but the DJ announced McKenna.
Before Dundee could get back in the game Stevie Milne was robbed of the ball on the half way line when with two players on him he could at least have booted the ball away, anywhere, but tried to wriggle his way past them only to be dispossessed easily. A through ball and ERIC SKORA struck to put the game beyond Dundee.
Mackay replaced Mair with 15 minutes left, followed in quick succession with Marocco replacing Hernando, Robertson for Rae and Beith for Milne.
SUMMING UP: Scores in friendlies are not so important as the performance. Before all the substitutions began upsetting the team rhythm and style, Dundee had more than matched Preston. In the first half, especially, we were the better team and could easily have went in with a two or three goal lead. From the moment Slatter and Caballero were taken off the game swung towards Preston and we were never really at the races for the remainder of the second half. With Rapid Bucharest arriving on Tuesday, it is hoped JD might just try out the team he hopes to field against Hearts and use just 3 subs instead of 7. Everyone needs a game and some match practice, but not to the extent of over half the team being replaced.
I was impressed with Speroni, Wilkie, Smith, Hernando, Nemsadze, Novo and Caballero.
Preston and Craig Brown were given a well deserved applause at the end. They are a well organised side with some delightful players, none better on display than Ricardo Fuller. Any team who comes close to promotion to the English Premiership has to be respected. The fact that Dundee could and should have been well up by half time must be a boost for Jim Duffy and the fairest minded of his dark blue support.