It was a proud Cammy Kerr who skippered the Dark Blues reserves in Monday night’s game against East Fife.
Most of Gavin Rae’s team had tasted first team action this season and included comebacks for Kyle Benedictus and Stephen O’Donnell.
Dundee pressured the Bayview men from the off and Martin Boyle was brought down on the edge of the box. Carlo Monti took the free kick and the ball was scrambled away by Fifers’ keeper Michael Andrews.
The Methil side retaliated and Dan Twardzik in the home goal had to be alert to foil a good move between Scott McBride and Blair Henderson.
But Dundee were soon back down the other end and Kerr’s cross from the right wing fell to Craig Wighton but the young striker’s shot was blocked by Scott Durie.
Wighton then had a great chance to put Dundee into the lead but Andrews pulled off a terrific save.
However, the opening goal was only delayed until the ninth minute. Willie Dyer played a superb ball up the left hand side and Leighton McIntosh shrugged off a defender to place the ball into the far corner from 12 yards out.
McIntosh then combined with Kerr whose shot was tipped over the bar by Andrews.
Dundee were in total command at this point with Kevin McBride and O’Donnell running the show in midfield and the Methil men were posing no threat at all to Twardzik.
On 31 minutes Dundee increased their lead. A crossfield ball from McBride found Boyle and he sent in a low drive that Andrews could only parry. The ball ran into the path of McIntosh who scrambled home his second.
The young striker could have had his hat trick on 41 minutes when he got his head to a Monti cross but Andrews saved his point blank header.
A minute before half time he had another chance but shot straight at the keeper.
HT: Dundee 2 East Fife 0
East Fife introduced two substitutes at the start of the second half, but it was the Dark Blues who were on the offensive again, looking for the third goal to kill the tie.
Wighton fed Monti whose fierce shot went just wide and McIntosh slipped as he tried to reach a Boyle cross. Then Monti twisted and turned in the box to fire in a shot that Andrews tipped round the post for a corner.
Matty Allan got to Kerr’s corner but the ball was handled on the line by Fife sub Dylan Honeyman. The player’s game had lasted all of four minutes as he was shown a red card and a penalty awarded. Monti stepped up and sent Andrews the wrong way but his penalty went wide of the target.
East Fife won their first corner of the game on 51 minutes and two minutes later saw Twardzik’s first save of the game, from Durie.
Five minutes later Kerr sent Wighton scurrying down the wing. The youngster turned his man beautifully but his final pass was poor and the danger cleared.
Dundee missed chance after chance to stretch their lead as Boyle time and time again raced down the right but found no one to get on the end of his crosses.
Nathan Austin had been ploughing a lone furrow up front for the Fifers and he almost found himself clear on goal had it not been for a well-timed tackle by Allan.
Dyer landed in the ref’s book for a foul on 75 minutes but a minute later Dundee finally found the third goal.
Wighton raced from the halfway line and, though he had options inside, he kept going and smashed the ball high into the roof of the net.
Kerr tried to get in on the action but his shot was tipped round the post for a corner and from the corner McIntosh headed wide.
Five minutes from the end Nathan Austin grabbed a consolation goal for the visitors. He ran on to a through ball and shrugged off a challenge before despatching the ball past Twardzik.
He almost snatched another in the dying minutes when put through by Mark Shaw but Twardzik was out quickly to dive at the striker’s feet.
FT: Dundee 3 East Fife 1
Dundee: Twardzik, Kerr, Dyer, O’Donnell, Benedictus, Allan, Monti, McBride, McIntosh, Wighton, Boyle. Subs not used: Colquhoun, Sivewright, McHardy.
East Fife: Andrews, Durie, Wilson (Honeyman 46), Woolley, Dutot, Lennie, McKenna, McBride, Henderson (M Shaw 69), Tuta (Austin 46), Stewart.
Subs not used: Maskrey, Doig, Falconer, C Shaw.
Report: Jim Davie
