Dundee 1
St Mirren 3
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

Two-nil down at half-time, Dundee battled for the rest of the game and had St Mirren under a lot of pressure but were given a lesson by the Paisley side when it came to finishing.

A big disappointment for Tommy Gemmell who had expected to take three or four points from the two home games this week and now finds his team fighting against the collar to get two from Rangers' visit on Saturday.

Dundee might have been two goals ahead before five minutes play. Schaedler was behind both of them with long throw-ins to the heart of the goal which had the visitors in serious trouble.

The first one was turned on by Sinclair to Fleming whose shot for goal had Thomson beaten only for Beckett to pop up and head clear.

From the next one both Sin clair and Fleming had shots dropped from six yards out before Munro in desperation hooked the ball over the cross bar to relieve the situation.

Dundee had got off to a flying start and St Mirren were taken aback by the sheer ferocity of their attack.

With nine minutes played Saints might have stolen the lead when Logan sent Weir off on a run which saw their lanky winger beat two defenders only to see his right-foot shot from 22 yards rebound off a post with Donaldson beaten.

Barr had a good effort from 25 yards just wide of goal and in the 13th minute Fleming should have scored for Dundee when he had a free header at a Mackie cross at the near post but headed straight at the Saints keeper.

Mackie had another good effort as Dundee continued to pressurise, but with 25 minutes played the pace had levelled off and there were signs that the visitors were coming into the game.

Somner wasn't far away with a good effort for Saints and in 26 minutes Dundee suffered a bad blow when Schaedler, who had been an inspiring influence on his team mates, had to leave the field suffering from a thigh strain and was replaced by Millar.

Within three minutes of the change came the first goal and when it came it was St Mirren who got it.

Weir found Logan with a low cross into the box and although the little inside-man failed to make contact with his first effort he made no mistake with a second attempt, lashing the ball into the roof of the net.

Donaldson had a good save from a Bone header before the visitors increased their lead with a well-worked goal in 37 minutes.

Beckett started the move with a long ball through the inside left position to Logan whose first time flick with his head allowed Bone to resist the challenge from Millar, run 40 yards, round keeper Donaldson and then shoot into the empty net.

The second-half got under way with Donaldson saving well in quick succession from Logan and Somner and in 51 minutes Dundee's bad luck continued when from a quickly taken free kick, Fleming shot through a ruck, of players only to see his shot rebound from the post.

Logan was proving a hot handful for the Dundee defence, having a shot blocked from six yards and when his speed took him clear seconds later, his finishing effort was only inches away.

Dundee were not giving up without a fight, however. Again they had St Mirren under pressure but found fortune turning against them in 60 minutes when a MacLaren header from a Murphy corner beat Thomson all ends up only for Fulton to hitch-kick off the line.

Thomson had two brilliant saves from Fleming and Sinclair and with 69 minutes gone Tommy Gemmell brought on Ferguson for Murphy in a bid to break through.

The youngster did just that in 71 minutes with a powerful shot and his lifeline brought Dundee even more into the game, with Fleming only inches out with a header and Dundee battling like daggers.

Then in 77 minutes and right out of the blue Saints went farther ahead with a brilliant goal from Stark.

A clearance from keeper Thomson was headed by Somner to Stark out on the right and the big fellow gave Donaldson no chance with a shot on the volley from 35 yards into the far corner of the net.

Another Fleming header was only inches away as Dundee's ill luck continued but they were battling stronger than ever.

The way this game was going, however, Saints always looked capable of scoring with Logan shooting past from ten yards before the end and Donaldson having to make another brilliant save from Stark.

Match report written by The Courier