Dundee moved up to second place in the Championship with a straightforward 3-0 win over Cove Rangers at the Kilmac Stadium. The Dark Blues were not at their best in a forgettable first half, but tied up the points with a blistering start to the second period, scoring two goals in the first six minutes after the restart. Both were scored by half time substitutes, Zach Robinson and Alex Jakubiak. The Dee went on to dominate and win at a canter. Lyall Cameron saw his penalty saved, but made amends by scoring the third goal.
Anyone who rolled up expecting a 3 o’clock kick off would have missed nothing. The first half was something of a snoozefest. Cove sat deep, offering no threat in attack, while the Dark Blues lacked the ideas and quality to break through.
Dundee started the occasional pleasing move, but these usually ended with a poorly judged or executed pass as play entered the final third. The Dark Blues moved the ball too slowly, playing at a gentle tempo that gave Cove ample time to get their cover in place.
There was a brief flurry midway through the half when Lyall Cameron took Luke McCowan’s low cross in his path, only for his shot to be blocked for a corner. This was taken short to Cameron who set up McMcCowan to send his shot over the bar from 18 yards.
Cove keeper Scott Fox had to race from his goal to beat Paul McMullan to a slack backpass. Cameron collected the rushed clearance, but shot too high from 25 yards.
The home fans became increasingly irritated by Cove’s persistent timewasting. The referee obviously noticed and played a generous three minutes of injury time. In the third minute Cameron turned neatly to hit a sweet shot from 25 yards. Fox was forced to pull off the only serious save of the half, and it had to be a good one to stop the ball reaching the top corner. That was the highlight of the half, and it took a long 48 minutes to arrive.
Gary Bowyer has shown that he is willing to make decisive early changes to shake up a game, and he did it again with two half time substutions. Zach Robinson and Alex Jakubiak came on for Luke McCowan and Kwame Thomas. Within six minutes each had scored and the points were safely tied up.
First, Robinson spun his marker wide on the right. With half a yard of a start he raced down the wing and along the byline. Attackers and defenders were pouring into the goalmouth waiting for the cutback that never came. Instead ROBINSON somehow squeezed a shot between Fox and the near post. He then coolly lapped up the applause from the Bobby Cox Stand as if that sort of goal is just part of the workaday routine.
That was pleasing enough, but Robinson topped it two minutes later with a classy assist for the second goal. Again he turned away from his marker, beating another man on his way into the penalty area before teeing up Alex JAKUBIAK to slam a low shot past Fox from 10 yards. Robinson would have been fully entitled to take a shot himself, but selflessly turned a decent opportunity for himself into a golden chance for his fellow striker.
Cove were struggling to live with Dundee who were now attacking with smooth, and confident aggression. Dundee should have had a third goal on the hour mark when Cove substitute Gime Touré flattened Lyall Cameron in the penalty area. Cameron took the penalty himself. It wasn’t a great effort and Fox parried. A frantic scramble ensued almost on the goalline, and Cove escaped.
The pressure on Cove continued relentlessly. Paul McMullan cut in from the left but Fox saved well. Jordan McGhee ran onto a McMullan pass to nudge the ball past Fox, but his shot from a tight angle was blocked on the line. Ryan Sweeney’s powerful header from a corner was tipped over athletically by Fox.
Finally the third goal arrived after 78 minutes. CAMERON timed his run to find space in the box and take a pass from McMullan. He calmly contolled the ball and screwed a low shot past Fox from 10 yards, his first league goal at home.
Dundee then threw on three substitutes, whose fresh energy helped the Dee finish in complete control. Ben Williamson, Josh Mulligan and Luke Hannant replaced Lee Ashcroft, Barry Maguire and Paul McMullan.
This game closely followed the script of the previous home match. A goalless first half followed by a dominant second half that blew away the opposition to give the Dark Blues a 3-0 win. Again, two goals came from substitutes, and, er, yet again there was a missed penalty.
The final scoreline could easily have been greater. Cove struggled to create any threat to the Dee backline. They had only one half chance in the whole match, when substitute Anthony Weston shot weakly straight at Adam Legzdins.
In that long first half Dundee never clicked into gear, but as soon as they did the result was never in doubt. The two quick goals from the substitute strikers were obviously vital, but the improvement was about more than the substitutions. The Dee midfield was far more effective in the second half. The ball was moved more quickly, and players kept finding space in areas where they could hurt Cove.
The challenge for the Dee is now to sustain the level of performance they have reached for half of games over a full 90 minutes. If they can do that there is good reason to be optimistic.
Dundee FC 4-2-3-1
Legzdins
Fisher, Ashcroft (Williamson 81), Sweeney (c), Kerr
Maguire (Mulligan 81), Cameron
McMullan (Hannant 81), McGhee, McCowan (Jakubiak at half time)
Thomas (Robinson at half time)
Unused subs: Sharp (gk), Marshall, Anderson, Tolaj.
Goals: Robinson (49), Jakubiak (51), Cameron (79).
Booked: none.
Cove Rangers 4-3-2-1
Fox
Naismith, Ross, Neill, Logan
Bangala (Touré 58) Virtanen, Scully
Longstaff, Dunne (McIntosh 58)
Megginson (Weston 69)
Unused subs: Gourlay (gk), McIntosh, Weston, Glass, Reynolds.
Booked: Virtanen (foul on Kerr), Fox (dissent), Touré (foul on Fisher), Neill (foul on Robinson).
Referee: Craig Napier. Assistants: Drew Kirkland, Ross Nelson.
Attendance: 4,208 (157 away).
Report: James Christie.
