DUNDEE 2-1 RAITH ROVERS,
An old fans favourite arrived back at Dens to help Dundee out as a trialist. The person in question was Neil McCann. The evergreen 36 year old, who is currently working with Sky Sports as a analyst, answered Barry Smith's call and joined the club on trial. He hadn't played since 2009 for Falkirk in their defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final and had since retired from playing but agreed to help Dundee out.
Raith Rovers came into the game with confidence and were the only unbeaten side on their travels in the whole of the UK. Dundee on the other hand were on a 13 game unbeaten run and were unbeaten at Dens for over a year. Something ultimately had to give....................
In what was a fairly nervous first half, Dundee edged Raith Rovers in terms of possession, but in terms of shots on goal, Raith were ahead on that count. Having said that, neither teams had the cutting edge in front of goal in the first half and the half petered out quietly without either keeper being seriously tested.
Second half and the game livened up a bit. Dundee's Craig Forsyth had the earliest chance when he was put through on the left by a fantastic Harkins pass but his touch was heavy and the angle was very tight but he did well to lob the Raith keeper but the ball lacked any real pace and it was cleared easily before it troubled the goal.
However, with 50 minutes on the clock, Raith had a corner. The ball was swung into the Dundee box and a hesitant and undecisive moment from Big Rab Douglas allowed for Grant Murray to head home for the visitors. It was a goal they didn't really deserve to be honest.
The goal though for Raith gave them fresh impetus and they searched for a killer second goal. Only last minute defending managed to keep them scoring. Raith looked fairly dangerous from corners and it was another corner that troubled the Dundee defence yet again which Baird glanced just fractionally over. Moments later, slack defending from Lockwood and Weston allowed Tade to nip into the box and his pass found Weir whose shot was comfortably saved from Rab Douglas. Weir then tried his luck again with an audacious 20 yard effort which Rab stretched to palm onto the post and out for a corner. It seemed only a matter of time before Raith would double their lead.
Jonathon Stewart was replaced by Neil McCann midway through the second half and this allowed him to go up front with Higgins and allow Harkins to drop back into midfield. Dundee then started to find their feet again as Raith began to sit deeper and deeper. A rasping shot from Craig McKeown beat the Raith keeper only for the ball to hit the outside of the post.
With 84 minutes on the clock, Dundee won themselves a free-kick 30 yards from the Raith goal. Up stepped Harkins who fired the shot into the top left corner of the goal which sparked scenes of sheer delight from the Dundee support and the South Enclosure went absolutely beserk with joy. Fantastic scenes and a fanastic goal.
Raith now lost impetus in the game and were content to try and see the game out and earn a good point but their time wasting efforts after they scored their goal would come back and haunt them. In the build up, McNeil the Raith keeper decided to pick the ball up from a pass back from a Raith player. The Raith players continued to argue and that allowed McCann to take the free kick and and allow O'Donnell to roll the ball into the empty net, only for the referee to rule it out as the free-kick was taken too quickly. When the free kick was finally taken from the penalty spot, Harkins shot was deflected for a corner. The corner was taken by Forsyth and his corner was cleared only as far as Lockwood who delivered the ball high into the box. Forsyth rose to knock the ball down to McCann who then expertly spun and knocked the ball over McNeil from 12 yard into the net. Cue delirious celebrations from McCann, the players and the supporters as in the 94th minute it was the trialist that came to help Dundee out score to win the match in extrodinary circumstances for the Dees and a goal that will live long in the memories of those Dundee fans that were there at Dens that day.
DUNDEE:
Douglas,
Irvine,McKeown, Weston, Lockwood,
Riley, Stewart (McCann 57), O'Donnell, Forsyth,
Higgins, Harkins
Unused subs: Gibson, Smith, Rennie, Bartlett
Goals: Harkins 84, McCann 94
Booked: O'Donnell, Higgins
RAITH ROVERS:
McNeil,
Wilson, Murray, Elis, Dyer, Walker,
Davidson (Williamson 77), Simmons, McBride,
Tade (Wales 84), Baird (Weir 69)
Unused subs: McGurn, Ferry
Goal: Murray 50
Booked: Dyer, Murray, Davidson, Simmons
Referee: George Salmond
Attendance: 5,105
Photo (c) http://www.thedees.co.uk/
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