Dundee secured their place in next season’s Premiership with a controlling victory over recently relegated St Johnstone on a fine sunny day in Perth.
Lyall Cameron scored twice to ensure the three points headed back up the road to the City of Discovery and signed off his Dundee career on a high.
The Dee made just one change to the side who drew with County midweek with Scott Tiffoney replacing Seun Adewumi, who had not recovered from the knock that saw him leave the field at halftime on Wednesday. Aaron Donnely was back in the squad after also missing out midweek.
Dundee fans had travelled in their numbers with over 3700 making the short journey down the A90 to cheers on their team.
St Johnstone came right out of the starting blocks. Adama Sidibeh made a run from the centre circle right down the middle of the pitch with the Dundee defence backing off, but as he made his way into the Dundee box he pulled the trigger for a shot. The shot was blocked and after a back and forward between the sides, the ball was eventually cleared.
St Johnstone then forced another chance. A low cross was put in but Makenzie Kirk’s back heel flick went high and past the post with Trevor Carson covering it.
Dundee then forced their first real attack in the 8th minute when Scott Tiffoney lost his man down the line and after passing it between himself, Portales and Lyall Cameron, they found Josh Mulligan making a run down the right. His cross was low and inviting but unfortunately, there was no Dundee player to make a connection with it.
Again St Johnstone threatened in the 10th minute. Another cross made its way into the Dundee box, but thankfully Clark Robertson was in the way to clear it for a Saint’s corner which came to nothing.
St Johnstone had been the far better team with plenty of space opening up to them in the Dundee half, but it was Lyall Cameron who had the first real opportunity to put Dundee ahead in the 15th minute. The midfielder gathered the ball and with acres of space, drove forward and unleashed a shot which narrowly went wide of the St Johnstone keeper’s right-hand post.
Dundee then had a penalty shout in the 23rd minute when Scott Tiffoney made a darting run into the box and after he released the ball, there were shouts that the winger had been fouled but nothing came of it.
Clark Robertson found himself in the referee’s book when he was shown a yellow card after 27th minutes for fouling a St Johnstone player on the halfway line.
Dundee then took the lead after 28 minutes.
Tiffoney won the ball in midfield and then CAMERON who gathered it and got himself into the nearside of the St Johnstone box. With a pleather of players in front of him, he decided to take the shot and it was a good one as he slotted it into the hapless St Johnstone keeper’s bottom left-hand corner to send the away support into scenes of utter jubilation.
Dundee nearly made it 2-0 just a few moments later when Simon Murray robbed the defender of the ball on the halfway line. He attempted an audacious lob over the goalkeeper, but he failed to get any flight on the ball, but it was enough to put off the flapping keeper who failed to control it, but fortunately for him, it went out for a corner.
The game then settled down a bit from the hustle and bustle of the opening half an hour and despite the home side forcing one last attempt on goal which was blazed over the bar, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the half with Dundee leading 1-0 but with still plenty for both teams to play for.
St Johnstone certainly started the match with a bit more urgency but Dundee settled into the game finishing the first 45 as the better side.
The home side made a change at halftime with Graham Carey coming on for Stephen Duke-McKenna.
Scott Tiffoney gathered the ball in the middle of the park and as he surged forward, he was brought down by Victor Griffith for St Johnstone’s first yellow card of this tie for a cynical foul.
The home side then had a chance with Kirk bursting through on goal, but the Dundee defence stood strong, not giving him much space and his shot went into the side netting.
Dundee then had the ball in the net in the 50th minute when Tiffoney slotted inside but the winger’s goal was flagged for offside and after a VAR check, the goal was correctly not given – Scott starting his run just that few seconds too soon.
Jason Holt for the home side was then shown a yellow card when Mulligan waltzed past him and he brought down the Dundee midfielder to stop an attack. The resulting free-kick was taken by Cameron but it hits the wall and goes out for a corner. The first corner was easily cleared at the front post while the second was headed behind by the home defence.
The third corner was played short and the cross into the box landed at the feet of a few Dundee players but none of them could get a shot on target with plenty of bodies in front of them.
Dundee then threatened again with a cross into the back post. Mulligan slipped at the last second and the ball went out of play.
Mulligan then made a darting run forward in the 65th minute after Joe Shaughnessy gathered the ball, after a poor pass from the home side. Josh then found himself in the box but his shot was tame and was blocked by the defender.
St Johnstone made another change as they attempted to find a way back into this tie with Jason Holt being replaced with Elliot Watt.
Ziyad Larkeche then had a chance as he robbed the dithering home defence of the ball in their own box, but as he went to take a shot, a St Johnstone player got in front to block his attempt, which took the sting out and the keeper easily gathered.
St Johnstone started to come into the game a bit more as they searched for an equaliser but their final ball let them down along with a sturdy Dundee defence thwarting any of their attempts.
Dundee however continued to threaten and a nice ball was played in, which met the diving head of Portales but his header was way off target.
With just over 15 minutes to go, Josh McPake ran down the wing and cut inside but his shot was wild and easily cleared the Dundee goal and went into row z of the Ormand Stand.
Seb Palmer-Houlden then received some treatment in the middle of the pitch and a few minutes later he was replaced by Finn Robertson.
There was then a massive cheer from the away fans as news trickled in that Motherwell had drawn level with Ross County up in Dingwall. The noisy away support just got a bit more noisier.
The Saints substitute Elliot Watt then had to be replaced after he fell awkwardly, Callan Hamill taking to the field.
Dundee then forced a corner through Finn Robertson, and the resulting set piece fell to the feet of Simon Murray who blazed over in the 83rd minute.
St Johnstone yet again tried to break away up field but the final ball was well off the mark – much to the dismay of their support.
They did however threaten Trevor Carson with 5 minutes left to play but the Dundee number 1 got down to make a fine save for a rare shot on target from the hapless home side.
As the 90th-minute approached, Dundee looked to run down the clock with Charlie Reilly making way for Simon Murray. This was then followed up by the fourth official raising the board to signal 6 minutes of added-on time.
Yet again, another huge cheer went up from the large travelling support as the final whistle sounded in the Highlands with the County match finishing one-a-piece. This score guaranteed that Dundee would be playing Premiership football next season.
With a spring in Dundee’s step, a fantastic run by Larkeche saw the defender brought down for a Dundee penalty!!
With just seconds to play for the six minutes added on, LYALL CAMERON slotted home his second of the match and scoring his first-ever Dundee penalty on his final appearance with the club to make sure the Dundee support would finish this season on a high.
The final whistle blew and the delighted Dundee fans made their way onto the pitch, no doubt letting a season’s worth of frustration out.
It was a well-deserved victory for Tony Docherty’s men. They really never looked like losing this game at any point and it speaks volumes of the Dee performance that it wasn’t until the 85th minute that the away side really made any effort to test Carson in goal.
Dundee not only outfought their counterparts on the field, but the fans did so in the stand, easily outnumbering the home support when the club needed them.
This 2-0 victory makes it two wins from two from our visits to Perth this season and we now have gone unbeaten at McDiarmid Park since our last defeat here, way back in October 2021.
As the Saints go marching onto life in the Championship, Dundee will now spend the summer regrouping to hopefully right the wrongs of this term.
But for now, the fans, players and management will celebrate achieving safety in the top flight.
St Johnstone 4-3-2-1
Sinclair
Sprangler, Balodis, Steven, Franczak
Holt (Watt ‘66, Hamill ‘72), Griffith, Duke-McKenna (Carey ‘46)
Sidibeh, McPake
Kirk
Unused subs: Hepburn, Curtis, Ikpeazu, Mylchreest, Kucheriavyi
Bookings: Griffith ’46, Holt ’56, Sidibeh ‘67
Dundee 4-3-3
Carson
Clark Robertson, Shaughnessy, Larkeche, Astley
Portales, Cameron, Mulligan
Murray (Reilly ’90) Tiffoney, Palmer-Houlden (Robertson ’79)
Unused subs: McCracken, Donnelly, Sylla, Samuels, Fraser, Koumetio, Garza
Bookings: Robertson ‘27
Scorers: Cameron ’28, pen. ‘96
Attendance: 7170
Match Report: Daniel Smith
