Dundee went down to a 1-0 defeat away to Alloa in the Premier Sports Cup this afternoon. An unfortunate own goal by Luke Graham midway through the second half gave the Wasps all three points. The Dark Blues had plenty of the ball, but couldn’t do enough with it to trouble the home defence, and can have no complaint about the outcome.
The Dee made four changes to the team that lost to Airdrie last week. Plamen Galabov, Aaron Donnelly, Imari Samuels, and Drey Wright came in for Billy Koumetio, Ryan Astley, Ethan Ingram and Cesar Garza. The most noteworthy feature of the starting formation was Imari Samuels playing wide on the right of midfield.
Dundee made the stronger start and were marginally the better side throughout the first half without ever being convincing. The closest the Dee came to scoring was in the first 10 minutes. A deep cross from Fin Robertson was drifting towards the top corner before keeper Liam McFarlane got back to tip the ball over the bar. From the corner Emile Acquah headed inches wide at the near post.
That was the end of the excitement in a first half in which there was hardly enough action on the pitch to distract the unfortunate supporters enduring the torrential rain out in the open.
The Dark Blues’ only worries in defence came from a few misplaced passes. Apart from that Trevor Carson had no problems. Liam McFarlane might have been busier in the Alloa goal, but it was almost all routine defensive housekeeping. Dundee couldn’t create any clean chances or force the home keeper into any serious, hard work.
Tony Yogane offered the most threat, with some promising runs on the left and two good crosses. That was all Dundee offered in open play, a disappointing summary of the first half. It didn’t get any better in the second half.
The Dee had a big escape shortly after the restart. Kurtis Roberts nicked the ball off Fin Robertson 40 yards from the Dundee goal and sent Luke Rankin clear. The striker had ample time to pick his spot, but scuffed a poor shot wide.
Dundee responded to that piece of luck with a fleetingly short spell of intense attacking. Acquah headed a Wright corner against the post as the Dark Blues briefly threatened to turn the screw on Alloa. That lasted only a few minutes and once again Dundee’s attacks started to peter out without penetrating the Wasps’ well organised defence.
Alloa offered little in attack in the 20 minutes after Rankin’s miss, but that changed after 67 minutes. Calum Waters found himself in space on the left and swung a cross into the penalty area. Substitute Conor Sammon’s header was blocked but the ball broke to Steven Buchanan on the right. He hammered a low shot across goal and off the unfortunate Luke Graham into the net.
Dundee sent on Ash Hay and Ethan Ingram to replace Imari Samuels and Tony Yogane. The remaining 25 minutes were a hard watch for the travelling Dark Blue support. Dundee couldn’t step up their game and offered little threat to the home goal.
There was one neat move on the right which ended with Simon Murray flicking Ethan Ingram’s cross on for Fin Robertson, but the shot was weak and easy for McFarlane to gather. Apart from that Alloa were comfortable and a Dundee goal never looked likely.
It was hard to see Dundee scoring unless Alloa made a mistake. The Wasps declined to cooperate and remained composed, doing the simple things well, and always making the right decisions at the right time.
Dundee’s defence was generally sound throughout the match, but the midfield and attack performed poorly. There was an absence of creativity and pace. Everything was too slow and too predictable. This was a disappointing way to get knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup, but nobody could argue with the verdict that both teams got what they deserved today.
Alloa Athletic 4-1-4-1
McFarlane
Foster, Hetherington, Devine, Waters
Hetherington (Bruin 68)
Buchanan, Roberts, Scougall, O’Donnell
Rankin (Sammon 61)
Unused subs: Ogayi (gk), Graham, McKay, Church, Mullen.
Goal: Graham og (67).
Booked: Roberts (foul on Acquah).
Dundee FC 4-4-2
Trevor Carson
Drey Wright, Plamen Galabov, Luke Graham, Aaron Donnelly
Imari Samuels (Ash Hay 68), Paul Digby, Finlay Robertson, Tony Yogane (Ethan Ingram 72)
Emile Acquah (Victor Lopez 87), Simon Murray (c)
Unused substitutes: Jon McCracken, Ryan Astley, Billy Koumetio, Cesar Garza, Finlay Allan, Ethan Crombie.
Booked: none.
Attendance: not announced.
Referee: Don Robertson. Assistants: Steven Traynor, Kevin Buchanan.
Report: James Christie.
