According to Lee Wilkie his central defensive partner Tom Hutchinson came down with a virus and was ruled out of the team for today. When the team was announced before the game Steve Lovell was named as one of the 3 strikers with Sara on the bench. Yet when the teams ran out it turned out Sara was on from the start and Lovell wasn’t even on the bench. Steven Robb was a sub yet wasn’t in the pool announced. A huge cheer went up when it was announced long term injury victim Zurab Khizanishvilli was to take a place on the bench.
It became obvious straight from kick off that both teams were intent on attack and so it turned out. It was a game that had it’s fair share of bad passing, bad temper, carelessness, poor finishing, poor refereeing, but also had the fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish and had many moments of pure genius as well.
In the 4th minute a Caballero free kick strikes the arm of a Killie player and the Referee awards another free kick right on the edge of the box. Some felt the players was in the box and a penalty should have been awarded, others felt he’d rushed out towards the ball and the Referee was correct. TV evidence needed here.
Nacho Novo shows his class around the 10 minute mark with some neat footwork and skills in the box but his only reward is a corner kick.
Shortly afterwards a Barry Smith pass back gets Speroni in a spot of bother. As a Killie player charges in he cooly dribbles past him and does the same as another player approaches before passing the ball to a Dundee player to great applause.
When Killie apply pressure Dundee’s defence at times looks to be all over the place and Tom Hutchinson’s presence is badly missed at this point. But they survive several scary moments without Speroni having a save to make.
In the 20th minute Dave Mackay goes on a rare mazy run, leaving 3 men in his wake. Unfortunately for Dave when the chance to shoot comes the ball’s on his left foot and he succeeds only in pushing the ball tamely into the arms of Gordon Marshall. But great spirit from the young full back.
32 minutes gone before the next chance comes Dundee’s way and when a Garry Brady cross is met on the volley by Nacho Novo he doesn’t connect properly and his shot takes a bounce into the grateful arms of Marshall yet again.
Killie have the ball in the net 5 minutes before half time but the flag’s up for offsides and the Dundee defence had spotted it and stopped.
41 minutes on the clock and a neat ball from Sara to Caballero sees the Argentinian attempt to flick the ball into the path of the unmarked Rae. It doesn’t come of for Fabian and another chance goes a begging.
The half time view was that Dundee should have been ahead at the break. They had played the better football, created the better chances but couldn’t find the composure to break down what was a pretty shaky Killie defence. Killie, on the other hand, were certainly not defending and hit Dundee on the break at every opportunity and the end to end stuff kept the fans enthralled. Dundee needed to find the key to open the door. A goal, it was felt, might just lead to others.
The second half wasn’t long underway when a Lee Wilkie header from a Novo corner was headed off the line by a Killie defender. Then Caballero had a snap shot from outside the box held by Marshall.
Half an hour to go and a delicate Sara lay off gives Garry Brady an opportunity but he fires miles over when a chance looked on.
65 minutes gone and great interpassing between Caballero and Nemsadze on the right gives Fabian a chance but his fierce shot is turned round the post by Gordon Marshall.
As so often happens in football just when it looked like Dundee were taking the ascendancy in the game and looked the more likely team to score Kille broke upfield and a neat move, involving at least 5 players ends with their new French signing knocking the ball into an empty net. Dundee players and fans are incensed, claiming the player was blatantly offsides. Once again, TV evidence required.
Had the old Dundee failing of failing to score when they had their opponents on the ropes surfaced again? Did Dundee have anything left to give in this game? These were questions waiting to be answered but the old butterflies began to squirm inside again and most fans felt a sense of déjà vu.
67 minutes gone and when a neat Novo cut back is booted out for a corner big Lee Wilkie charges forward into the box. As he rises to meet the cross which looked destined for his head he is blatantly pushed and when he protests he is booked by rooky referee Thomson.
20 minutes to go and Duffy plays a master stroke. He replaces a below par Nemsadze with Stevie Milne, giving Dundee 4 strikers on the park. Add to this Dave Mackay’s constant overlaps down the right and Lee Wilkie surging upfield at every opportunity. In this last 20 minutes Dundee perhaps showed a more attacking, cavalier attitude than I’ve seen them play for years.
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And they get their rewards in stunning fashion. After a period of intense pressure with Killie perhaps beginning to think they'd hold out for the three points, Fabian Caballero picks up a pass inside the box. Instinctively he picks out GAVIN RAE to his left. Gavin shows remarkable coolness, gets the ball onto his right foot and cracks it inside the keeper’s right hand post to the joy of the Dundee fans – and players.
There is still 15 minutes left and suddenly the Dees fans realise this game could still be won and they urge their team forward. Nacho Novo rises to the occasion, turns his marker inside out before firing a shot that Marshall palms out for a corner.
Ten minutes to go and Nacho and Dave Mackay link up superbly giving the diminutive Spaniard a clear shot at goal. His effort is heading for the corner of the net and the Dees scarves are raised in salute of a goal. Gordon Marshall, however, diving the wrong way, sticks out a leg and diverts the ball a foot past the post.
Young Steven Robb replaces Juan Sara almost at the death, and he, too, being an attacking kind of player this meant Dundee had more like 5 strikers on now.
Hibs Last Season |
The Dens Park faithful are sent into raptures in injury time when a last desperate push by Dundee sees almost every player around the Killie box. Novo does a 1-2 with FABIAN CABALLERO, who, showing the coolest of heads when the ball comes his way to the right of the penalty area, guides it into the far corner of the net for a superlative goal.
DENS PARK ERUPTS and the whistle blows soon after. Julian Speroni, fist in the air, salutes the Bobby Cox, then punches his Dundee badge with pride and the dark blues move into the top 6 with a vengeance.
Summing up, a great win that sees Duffy’s tigers leapfrog Killie into 6th spot in the league. It also means that taking into account the same fixtures last season Dundee are two points better off than then with a healthier goal average as well. That’s 3 times Dundee have trailed at home and 3 times they’ve came back to win by the same score, 2-1. Not good for the nerves or the fingernails but certainly exciting stuff.
FORM RATINGS: JULIAN SPERONI – The goal apart he didn’t really have a lot of saves to make. But his handling was good as always and he uses his fists when trying to catch the ball might be costly. His neat dribble in the first half was good to watch but hope he’s not called to do that too often. BACK 4 – RIGHT – DAVE MACKAY – Excellent performance. Dave was my man of the match by a mile. He gave nothing away at the back, tackled fiercely, kept his cool at all times. And his surges forward were amazing. Those who booed his miss in the first half failed to realise it was he who had created the chance with an amazing run. Was still attacking right to the end. CENTRAL – BARRY SMITH – Another fine performer. Yes, I know, he gave away some silly balls. But for sheer will to win and fighting spirit the Skipper was ten foot tall today. He’s proved himself a versatile player this season, playing midfield recently and able to slot back into his more accustomed defensive role with ease. He was the sponsors’ man of the match. CENTRAL – LEE WILKIE – Wullie Miller described his performance today as magnificent on Radio Scotland. Whatever the secret of Lee’s rise to success after such a dismal season last time round he’s found the key to the door, opening to what must surely be a most promising future in the world of football. From down and out, "nobody wants me" to superstar in a few short months. Showing the kind of form dreams are made of. Scotland beckons. LEFT – JONAY HERNANDES – Must be the poorest game Jonay’s played for Dundee. His touch seemed to be lacking, he was getting himself frustrated, his man was skinning him at times and he was giving him acres of space. To make it worse Killie pushed another man down that side and we were looking very vulnerable on Jonay’s flank today. He won’t let it get him down, he’s a great player and will storm back. MIDFIELD – RIGHT – GARRY BRADY – In the first half I thought he had a much better game than I’ve seen him play in his few first team matches this season. He was getting decent cross balls into the box and running at the Killie defence. Seemed to have a much more mundane second half in which he wasn’t involved in so much of the action. But still an improvement. CENTRE – GIORGI NEMSADZE – Considering some of the moaners around me in the Bobby Cox who actually cheered when Giorgi was subbed I wondered if they were watching the same game as me. He wasn’t at his dazzling best, but was behind most of our good passing movements and created a few chances. Perhaps the disappointment of being left out of the Georgian squad next week has upset him just a bit. Still looked good to me, though. SUB – STEVEN ROBB – Replaced Giorgi with 5 minutes to go and wasn’t on for long enough to show what he can do. But I’ve seen this kid play in the Under-21’s and he’s a great prospect who we’ll hear about in the seasons to come. LEFT – GAVIN RAE – A below par performance from Gavin who seemed unusually quiet for long spells in this match. But he did have some great lung bursting runs from deep inside his own half that had Killie in all sorts of panic. And his well taken goal gave us the platform and the time to go on to win the match. ATTACK – NACHO NOVO – Not his best day in the dark blue he was constantly man marked and given little space in which to strut his stuff. But he was lively and buzzing around the Killie goal area, sent over some good balls, saw two goalbound shots saved by Marshall and was close on several occasions to weaving his way into scoring positions. Then he does a neat 1-2 with Cab for the winning goal. By his standards, average, by the standards of an ordinary being, pretty good. FABIAN CABALLERO – Very poor first half in which he seemed slow to react and a bit on the lazy side. Whether Jim Duffy kicked down a dressing room door at half time I’ll have to wait to find out. Whatever the secret Fabian came out second half a different man and began to turn on the style in the way the fans love him to. Set up Rae’s goal and scored the winner, not a bad finale to a day’s work. JUAN SARA – Poor. Didn’t get into any real scoring positions. Why he persists in positioning himself at the far post for all cross balls instead of attacking in front of the keeper I do not know as most crosses seem to arrive at that spot. There must be a reason. Not the player he was, but we all know Juan went through a spell like this last season then found his scoring form eventually and became our top scorer yet again. My money's on him to do that again. SUB – STEVEN MILNE – The Killie defence must have felt some panic when they saw Dundee bring on a 4th striker with 15 minutes left. To make it worse Stevie’s pace is enough to upset any defence. He should have scored with his first touch but glanced a free header wide of the target from close range. His presence alone must have worked as Rae and Cab found themselves with space to notch the vital goals once Stevie arrived.