The Dark Blues had to make do with a single point from a 0-0 draw away to St Mirren this afternoon. After a forgettable first half Dundee went on to dominate the second half but could not find the creativity to break down the Buddies. The Dee were helped by a red card to St Mirren’s Jake Young with half an hour to play but the home defence stood strong against all Dundee’s pressure.
The Dark Blues’ starting eleven had three changes from last week. Imari Samuels and Callum Jones switched to the bench and were replaced by Brad Halliday, for his debut, and Joel Cotterill who started for the first time. The third change was Simon Murray returning in the place of injured Ash Hay.
The game never burst into life throughout a first half largely devoid of penalty box action. Both teams passed up chances in the first 20 minutes. Tony Yogane skipped past his marker and crossed into the goalmouth where Buddies keeper Shamal George dropped the ball. Cameron Congreve was taken by surprise and shot wide with the goal gaping.
St Mirren’s best opportunity came after the Dark Blues won a corner from their best spot of play in the first half, a neat move down the right. The short corner move misfired and St Mirren broke at speed. Alex Gogic played a dangerous pass across goal but centre back Richard King, who had sprinted up the park, completely miskicked and sclaffed a tame shot yards wide.
Apart from that Dundee had a couple of shots from 20 yards, from Ethan Hamilton and Yan Dhanda. Both had power, but lacked the direction to trouble the keeper.
St Mirren, on the other hand, didn’t manage a shot on target. But they did play their way into dangerous positions a few times without finding the right final cross or pass. Jon McCracken’s contribution was restricted to calmly dealing with crosses and being available for passes backwards. It wasn’t the most thrilling of games.
St Mirren replaced right wing back Tunmise Sobowale at half time. He had struggled against Yogane. These half time reorganisations of opposition defences have become a feature of recent Dundee matches, which shows how difficult Dundee’s young attackers are to handle.
The action did pick up after the restart, and it was St Mirren who started with more urgency. The first 10 minutes were spent in the Dee half. The Buddies created pressure, but no chances with the Dark Blue defence holding firm.
After that lively opening to the second half Dundee imposed themselves on the game. Twice Congreve created danger on the right. His low cross into the goalmouth was stabbed behind for a corner by Marcus Fraser with Simon Murray lurking. Congreve then had the St Mirren defence in a tangle but he was crowded out before he could get a shot away.
The game swung in Dundee’s favour when St Mirren were reduced to 10 men after 64 minutes. Jake Young, on his debut, caught Brad Halliday with his studs as the Dark Blues tried to break. Referee Nick Walsh pulled out the red card, and a VAR review didn’t save Young. It was hardly a malicious foul and there was certainly nothing personal. Young and Halliday are friends from their days together with Bradford City.
The Dee went on to dominate the rest of the match but they could never break down St Mirren’s defence, which coped well with everything Dundee threw at them. Waves of attacks ended with St Mirren clearing and keeper George never being called upon to make a save. The Buddies kept working hard and always maintained a disciplined shape.
St Mirren had a few spirited breaks, and McCracken did have to make a couple of simple saves from tame shots, but St Mirren had no more joy than the Dee in making any worthwhile chances.
Charlie Reilly and Joe Bevan came on for Tony Yogane and Cameron Congreve with 20 minutes to play and then Callum Jones replaced Joel Cotterill.
Dundee continued to push hard for a winner but couldn’t finish off some promising moves. The packed Buddies defence snuffed out every attack, and always scrambled clear when they were under fierce pressure. There were four minutes of added time, but the 0-0 scoreline looked inevitable long before the final whistle.
Brad Halliday and Joel Cotterill showed up well on their full debuts. Halliday linked well with his team mates on the right and was always sound in defence. Cotterill was effective in supporting attacks in the second half.
A single point is disappointing from a game in which Dundee were so dominant territorially and in which the opposition played the last half hour with 10 men. It would be easy to forget that the defence claimed a clean sheet today, and the defenders all performed impressively.
St Mirren do deserve credit for keeping their heads, working furiously hard to deny the Dee and grinding out a point. This is a difficult ground to visit and Dundee never looked in any real danger of losing. That does show how the Dee are improving.
St Mirren 3-4-2-1
George
Fraser (c), King, Freckleton
Sobowale (Richardson at half time), Phillips, Gogic, Tanser (Nlundulu 78)
Idowu (Campbell 73), Young
Etete (Mandron at half time)
Unused subs: Mullen (gk), John, Donnelly, McMenamin, Calvin.
Booked: none.
Sent off: Young (foul on Halliday).
Dundee 4-1-4-1
Jon McCracken
Brad Halliday, Ryan Astley, Luke Graham, Drey Wright
Ethan Hamilton
Cameron Congreve (Joe Bevan 73), Yan Dhanda, Joel Cotterill (Callum Jones 82), Tony Yogane (Charlie Reilly 73)
Simon Murray (c)
Unused substitutes: Kieran O’Hara (gk), Ethan Ingram, Aaron Donnelly, Paul Digby, Fin Robertson, Imari Samuels.
Booked: none.
Attendance: 6,461.
Referee: Nick Walsh. Assistants: Daniel McFarlane, Ross Anderson. VAR: John Beaton. Assistant VAR: Graeme Leslie.
Report: James Christie.
