Dundee lost 2-1 to St Johnstone in Perth this afternoon. Josh Campbell gave the Saints an early lead and the Dark Blues struggled to get their game together in the first half. Joe Westley was one of three half time substitutes sent on to try and turn the game around and he equalised within two minutes. Dundee were better in the second half, but it was St Johnstone who scored the winner through Kai Fotheringham. The Dark Blues only sporadically played at their usual level today and could have no complaints about the outcome.
The only change to the Dundee team that started in the win over Kilmarnock was the return of Owen Bevan in the place of Joe Wright who was on the bench.
The Dark Blues started slowly and were caught napping in the fifth minute. Enes Alic swung over a fine cross from the left to the near post where Josh CAMPBELL headed past Owen Goodman. It was a poor goal to concede. The cross and scoring header were far too easy.
Dundee had barely crossed the halfway line when they fell behind and were distinctly second best all over the park in a disappointing opening quarter of an hour. The only problem St Johnstone had to deal with was replacing centre back Bozo Mikulic who had taken a head knock. Dan Finlayson replaced him.
Gradually the Dark Blues perked up and began to take the game to Saints without ever being convincing. At last Dundee managed to hold onto the ball and build attacks. Alan Forrest had the first shot on target, but his effort did not trouble home keeper Ross Sinclair. Ethan Hamilton had a more dangerous shot after a quick turn in the penalty area, but Sinclair managed to push the ball round the post.
Dundee’s attacks were usually too pedestrian against a defence that had ample time to organise. In contrast Saints were moving the ball more quickly in the final third and were more dangerous as a result.
St Johnstone came close to a second goal late in the half. Esic’s powerful shot from 25 yards was parried by Goodman and Taylor Steven couldn’t control the rebound and sliced his shot well wide.
After such a lacklustre first half it was no surprise that Dundee made changes at half time. Ryan Finnigan, Zan Besir, and Joe Westley came on for Callum Jones, Joe Bevan, and Bradley Fink. The changes brought an instant impact with an equaliser within two minutes of the restart.
Sinclair and Diabeté collided going for a cross and Joe WESTLEY took advantage to shoot home. The goal gave the Dark Blues momentum and for the next 15 minutes they threatened to take the lead.
To their credit Saints battled back into contention and play swung from end to end. Dundee were still looking capable of scoring, but gradually the balance of play shifted in Saints’ direction. From the middle of the second half onwards their attacks carried more threat and Dundee found it harder to trouble the home defence.
The Dark Blues managed to keep St Johnstone at bay with some determined penalty box defending, but Goodman had to pull off a fine full length save when Joel Cotterill smashed a 30 yard shot that Goodman did well to turn out for a corner.
Too often Dundee’s attempted attacks broke down before they reached the final third. St Johnstone’s winning goal came from such a breakdown, and a mistake by one of the Dee’s top players this season. Hamilton’s pass out to the left was too far ahead of Imari Samuels. The left back was stranded as Saints attacked into space behind him. Campbell’s shot was blocked but the ball broke to Kai FOTHERINGHAM whose shot took a big deflection and looped over Goodman into the net.
Dundee put St Johnstone under pressure as they chased an equaliser, but were always vulnerable to Saints’ breakaways. Both teams had goals disallowed in the closing stages. Ryan Finnigan’s effort was chalked off for a push, and Macaulay Tait netted from an offside position.
In added time the Dark Blues passed up a final great opportunity. Joe Westley headed down into the goalmouth and when the defence didn’t clear Westley couldn’t make a clean connection and Sinclair was relieved to grab the ball.
If Dundee had grabbed a late equaliser they would hardly have deserved it. There were too many mistakes, carelessly conceded possession, slack passes and attacks which petered out without reaching the penalty area. Too often St Johnstone were able to play their out too easily past the high press and then build quick attacks.
Put simply the Dark Blues fell short of their usual standards and were off the pace today. In the Premiership that rarely leads to a happy outcome.
St Johnstone 4-3-2-1
Sinclair
Smith, Diabate, Mikulic (Finlayson 13), Alic
Cotterill, Holt (c), Campbell
Steven (Stanton 59), Fotheringham (Tait 80)
Schmidt (Fowler 59)
Unused subs: Hepburn (gk), Foulds, Chalmers, Todd, Paton.
Goals: Campbell (5), Fotheringham (72).
Booked: Steven (foul on Hamilton).
Dundee FC 4-4-2
Owen Goodman
Drey Wright (Brad Halliday 86), Ryan Astley, Owen Bevan, Imari Samuels
Joe Bevan (Zan Besir at half time), Callum Jones (Ryan Finnigan at half time), Ethan Hamilton (c), Alan Forrest (Charlie Reilly 71)
Bradley Fink (Joe Westley at half time), Ashley Hay
Unused substitutes: Harry Sharp (gk), Idris Odutayo, Joe Wright, Alfie Harrison.
Goal: Joe Westley (47).
Booked: Drey Wright (foul on Cotterill), Ethan Hamilton (foul on Diabete), Brad Halliday (foul on Campbell).
Attendance: to be announced.
Referee: David Dickinson. Assistants: David McGeachie, Jonathan Bell. VAR: Duncan Williams. Assistant VAR: Don Robertson. 4th Official: George Calder.
Report: James Christie.
