Luke Graham’s equaliser early in the second half gave Dundee a point from a 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Dens Park this afternoon. Tawanda Maswanhise gave Well a fully deserved half time lead after a first half in which the Dark Blues struggled. The Dee put in a far better performance in the second half but were happy to settle for a point after Yan Dhanda was shown a late red card.
The Dark Blues switched to a formation with four at the back and there were two changes to the starting eleven. Fin Robertson and Tony Yogane came in for Imari Samuels and Callum Jones.
The first quarter of an hour offered passable viewing for the home support, without thrilling anyone. Dundee were keen to move the ball forward quicker than in the last few games and Tony Yogane showed promise on the left.
That was the end of the positives in a first half that Motherwell went on to dominate. Well started to camp out in the Dundee half probing the Dee defence with some neat passing moves. Motherwell were far better at holding the ball than the nervous, and error prone Dark Blues.
Dundee’s defence did well to hold out until the 33rd minute when Motherwell stepped up the pace with a fast move that opened up the Dark Blues. Emmanuel Longelo’s pass set up Tawanda MASWANHISE one on one against Luke Graham. He beat the defender for pace before angling a low shot through McCracken’s legs to score.
The loss of a goal sandbagged Dundee and Motherwell took over completely, playing with all the confidence that the Dark Blues lacked. Dundee’s high press was ineffective. Indeed it was counter-productive. Motherwell consistently played their way calmly past the pressing Dees into the space that the high press opened up.
Dundee almost had a sniff of a chance when Calum Ward, the Well keeper, had to come out of his box to challenge Joe Westley for a slack backpass. The Dark Blues couldn’t take advantage of the loose ball and Motherwell regained their composure, which they never lost for the remainder of the half.
The last 30 minutes of the first half was excruciatingly poor and a huge improvement was required. The players obviously realised that the fans were demanding that and delivered an instant response.
Joe Westley had taken a knock in the first half and had also been booked. It was no surprise when he was substituted at half time. Cameron Congreve came on and made a dramatic impact playing more as a right winger than Westley had done.
Two minutes after the restart Congreve won a free kick on the right, which he took. Nothing came of that initially but with the second ball he delivered a wicked curling cross to the far post for Luke GRAHAM to run in and head home.
Only a minute later Yan Dhanda dinked a cross to the near post and Simon Murray sent a diving header narrowly wide.
Murray should have put the Dark Blues ahead after 55 minutes. Congreve won the ball inside the penalty area and set up Murray for what should have been a tap in. Somehow the ball didn’t end up in the net and screwed past the post. It was a mystery but unbiased commentator Allaster McKallaster would doubtless have blamed the pitch.
The game then settled into a pattern that was reminiscent of the first half, but with a big difference. Motherwell hogged the ball and moved neatly through the middle without being able to set up the clear chances you would expect. Dundee, on the other hand, showed far more purpose when they had the ball and always looked capable of snatching a goal themselves.
There were a few hairy moments in the Dee penalty area but the Dark Blues got the break of the ball and were always able to clear.
There were still two big scares for the Dark Blues, however. Maswanhise chased a long ball and hooked a cross across goal from the byline. McCracken and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos both went for the ball, which somehow evaded both of them before drifting across goal and past the post. The Australian striker suffered a painful collision with the near post and had to be substituted.
The second heart-in-mouth moment saw substitute Eliah Just open up Dundee with a burst of pace from midfield. He sent Maswanhise in on goal but McCracken instinctively stuck out his boot to save.
The Dark Blues lost Yan Dhanda after 85 minutes when he was shown a straight red card for the sort of challenge with studs on Lukas Fadinger that would have been barely noticed by referees once upon a time but is not tolerated now.
Dundee reorganised and sent on Imari Samuels and Callum Jones for Fin Robertson and Simon Murray. There were six minutes of injury time and the Dark Blues handled them professionally.
This was a strange game. Dundee were very poor in the first half and Motherwell could have been out of sight by half time if they had been able to turn impressive attacks into goal chances. The Dee’s high tempo start to the second half, and the quick equaliser transformed the atmosphere. If Dundee had failed to improve the fans would have been unforgiving.
The first half gave us all the failings that have frustrated the support in the first two home games. Dundee were passive, ineffective, and unable to keep possession without simply turning the ball backwards.
The second half was far better but it still didn’t really add up to being a good performance. We saw fight and resilience, and some goal threat. That rates as passable, but the team will still have to do better. Cameron Congreve was consistently excellent and put in a claim for a starting position that will be hard to ignore. In that second half the whole midfield was more effective in starting attacks. Ethan Hamilton and Yan Dhanda both showed us what they can give the team over the rest of the season.
A point was the most that Dundee deserved today, but it’s pleasing to report that it might have been more. That outcome seemed unlikely at half time so the point was well received at the end.
Dundee FC 4-2-3-1
Jon McCracken
Drey Wright, Ryan Astley, Clark Robertson, Luke Graham
Finlay Robertson (Callum Jones 90+2), Ethan Hamilton,
Joe Westley (Cameron Congreve at half time), Yan Dhanda, Tony Yogane (Ashley Hay 71)
Simon Murray (c) (Imari Samuel 90+2)
Unused substitutes: Trevor Carson (gk), Ethan Ingram, Billy Koumetio, Emile Acquah, Plamen Galabov.
Booked: Westley (foul on Koutroumbis).
Sent off: Dhanda (foul on Fadinger).
Goal: Graham (48).
Motherwell 4-2-3-1
Ward
Koutroumbis (O’Donnell 57), Gordon (c), Welsh (Balmer 78), Longelo
Watt, Fadinger
Said (Priestman), Maswanhise, Charles-Cook (Just 57)
Stamatelopoulos (Osong 64)
Unused substitutes: Oxborough (gk), Halliday, Ross, McColm.
Goal: Maswanhise (33).
Booked: Longelo (foul on Congreve).
Attendance: 4,572.
Referee: Calum Scott. Assistants: David Dunne, Kevin Buchanan. VAR: Gavin Duncan. Assistant VAR: Graeme Leslie
Report: James Christie.
