Dundee ran out as comfortable 3-0 winners at Stranraer this afternoon in the Premier Sports Cup. The Dee struggled to break down their hosts until Cammy Kerr opened the scoring from a corner late in the first half. After half time the Dark Blues took a firm grip on the game and put Stranraer under fierce and sustained pressure. Paul McGowan made it two and Luke McCowan came off the bench to complete the scoring with a peach of a goal.
Dundee had four changes to the team that started against Hamilton. Tyler French made his debut, and Fin Robertson, Paul McGowan and Alex Jakubiak also started. They replaced Sam Fisher, Josh Mulligan, and Max Anderson, who were on the bench, and Zak Rudden who was ill.
The Dark Blues kicked off and hogged the ball for the rest of the first half. For all their dominance Dundee struggled to break through a tight and well organised home side. Stranraer looked like a team that had conceded five goals in their previous two games and were determined it would not happen again.
Dundee passed, pushed and prodded their way around the home half, but Stranraer’s two banks of four strung out in front of the penalty kept their discipline and concentration. The Dee did not manage a shot or header on target until the last few minutes of the half.
Tyler French headed across goal and wide in a desperately packed goalmouth at a corner, and that was the only real attempt on goal that Dundee managed in the opening 40 minutes.
With far less of the ball and only a few attacks Stranraer looked almost as dangerous as the Dee when they did try to move forward. The home side put together a few neat moves, but never worked their way into a position to test Harry Sharp.
Every time a Dark Blue hit an incisive pass, and every time a player found space Stranraer closed the door before the Dee could exploit the opportunity.
Dundee stepped up a couple of gears as the first half was coming to a close and peppered the home goal with shots. Cammy Kerr was unlucky when the ball broke to him at a corner and his volley was headed off the line.
Niall McGinn stole the ball off a defender but his shot deflected off a defender’s head and over the bar. From the corner Ryan Sweeney’s header was cleared off the line with the Dark Blues claiming the ball was behind the line.
As the pressure built up Paul McMullan’s shot was deflected, spinning over the bar, and Kerr had a shot from the resulting corner turned wide.
Finally Stranraer cracked and KERR’s header from a corner squirmed past home keeper George O’Connor to put the Dee ahead.
After the restart Dundee set about Stranraer briskly trying to put the game to bed.
Fin Robertson wasted a good chance, blazing high over the bar from a Kerr cut back. A fine pass by Robertson released McMullan on the left but his cross was scrambled past the post for a corner befor Jakubiak could score. A low ball by McGowan flew across goal with Jakubiak unable to reach it as the Dee kept up the pressure.
On the hour Sam Fisher replaced Tyler French and Ben Williamson came on for his debut, in the place of Shaun Byrne.
The newcomers were quickly in the action. Williamson sent a raking shot a foot over the bar from 22 yards after a fine crossfield pass from Fisher.
Midway through the half Dundee passed up the best chance of the match. McGinn and Robertson carved open the Stranraer defence with a delightful passing move down the right. McGinn ran into the penalty area and set up Jakubiak for a tap in, but the striker screwed his shot horribly wide.
The Dark Blues then made two more substitutions, replacing Niall McGinn and Paul McMullan with Lyall Cameron and Luke McCowan.
The second goal that had looked imminent for far too long without actually arriving finally came after 72 minutes. Stranraer could not clear from a free kick and Fisher crossed to the far post. Sweeney headed down and McGOWAN, in space, smashed the ball home.
Sweeney suffered a cut head setting up the goal and was replaced by Josh Mulligan who came on at right back with Cammy Kerr moving to centre back.
If anything the change gave Stranraer a new set of problems. Kerr had little trouble in defence and Mulligan spent the rest of the match rampaging down the right and linking dangerously with McCowan.
The third goal, after 83 minutes, was a gem. At the end of a patient passing move Luke McCOWAN cut inside and from 18 yards curled a beautiful left foot shot inside the far post. If a certain number 7 who graced the dark blue a few years ago had scored that we would have called it a trademark Greg Stewart goal.
The Dark Blues were utterly dominant in the last few minutes with Stranraer defending in depth trying to keep the score down. At times it was shooty-in, but the home side hung on to deny the Dee any more goals. Substitute Lyall Cameron went close twice, flashing a 20 yard shot wide and heading over the bar.
This was the second successive 3-0 win for the Dee in group H of the Premier Sports Cup. At no stage did Dundee look in any real danger of dropping points. Once Cammy Kerr turned Dundee’s first half dominance into a goal the Dark Blues’s victory was never in doubt.
The Dee were perhaps too cautious and even pedestrian in building their moves in the first half, giving Stranraer too much time to suffocate the attacks. When Dundee started passing and running through Stranraer’s defensive lines with more ambition and conviction the goal threat increased and further goals were bound to come.
The midfield and wide players were highly effective in the second half, dominating the middle of the park and ensuring that play stayed almost entirely in the Stranraer half, and mostly within 30 yards of the home goal. Ben Williamson settled in well to the midfield, showing skill, drive and a physical presence.
The last time that the Dee came to Stranraer in the League Cup they went down to a feeble 3-1 defeat. A repeat was never remotely on the cards here today, and group G now seems to be set up for a decider between the Dee and Queens Park on Tuesday.
Stranraer FC 4-4-1-1
O’Connor
Watt, Girvan, Ross, Ellis
Woods, Gallagher (c), Forrest (Walker 81), McLean (Brady 61)
Robertson
Hilton
Unused subs: Scullion (gk), Dunn, Duffy.
Booked: Woods (foul on Cameron).
Dundee FC 4-2-3-1
Sharp
Kerr, Sweeney (c) (Mulligan 74), French (Fisher 61), Marshall
Byrne (Williamson 61), Robertson
McMullan (McCowan 69), McGowan, McGinn (Cameron 69)
Jakubiak
Unused subs: Lawlor (gk), Anderson, Strachan.
Goals: Kerr (42), McGowan (72), McCowan (83).
Booked: French (foul on Hilton).
Attendance: 497.
Referee: Greg Aitken. Assistants: Craig Macrae, Brent Falconer.
Report: James Christie.
