DundeeDundee |
2 - 12 - 1 |
MortonMorton |
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League (Premier Division) |
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Goalscorers | |
George McGeachie (30) Cammy Fraser (58) |
Jim Rooney (7) |
Team Managers | |
Donald Mackay |
Benny Rooney |
Starting Eleven | |
1. Bobby Geddes 2. Les Barr 3. Stewart McKimmie 4. Cammy Fraser 5. Jim Smith 6. Bobby Glennie 7. Iain Ferguson 8. Ray Stephen 9. Eric Sinclair 10. Albert Kidd 11. George McGeachie |
Roy Baines .1 Davie Hayes .2 Jim Holmes .3 James Rooney .4 Joe McLaughlan .5 Jim Duffy .6 Daniel Docherty .7 Drew Busby .8 Ian Cochrane .9 Roddy Hutchison .10 John McNeil .11 |
Bench | |
12. Peter Mackie 14. Brian Scrimgeour |
Andy Ritchie .12 Michael Ring .14 |
Substitutions | |
Brian Scrimgeour for George McGeachie (75) Peter Mackie for Albert Kidd (80) |
Andy Ritchie for Danny Docherty (54) Michael Ring for Ian Cochrane |
Cautions | |
None. | Joe McLaughlan (44) |
Red Cards | |
None. | None. |
Match Officials | |
J. R. S. Renton (Cowdenbeath) (Referee) |
A Cammy Fraser goal from a twice-taken free kick in the second half gave Dundee the victory they so desperately needed against Morton yesterday, and a possible life-line to the Premier League next season.
That goal earned Dundee the two points which re-established their four-point lead over Partick Thistle-a lead which they had held until last Wednesday, when they were beaten by the same score by the Glasgow side.
But, as in that game, Dundee once again made it hard for themselves by losing an early goal, and had to come from behind to earn the win that may keep them in the top grade for another season.
It was never a great game, there was too much bad passing for that, but Dundee were prepared to fight on this occasion and it paid off.
Morton went into the lead after only seven minutes, with a goal by Jim Rooney in many respects similar to the one scored by Donald Park for Thistle on Wednesday.
Hayes crossed the ball high into the Dundee goalmouth where Jim Smith headed out straight to the Morton right half, who then hit a first-time shot into the left-hand corner of the net.
Dundee came right back from this reverse for Fraser to shoot high over the crossbar.
Morton might have grabbed a second goal just after this when McNeill cut the ball back into Cochrane's path, but the centre forward did not hit the ball hard enough to worry Geddes in the Dundee goal.
Dundee then took over the game, but their finishing was almost as bad as their passing until the half-hour mark when George McGeachie scored the equaliser with a cracking goal.
It all began with a Ferguson corner, conceded under pressure, which was cleared out to McGeachie, who belted the ball on the volley into Baines' right-hand corner leaving the Morton keeper stranded.
Dundee continued to pressure their opponents without looking too dangerous and seemed to have a bit of luck when a Busby shot for Morton appeared to hit Bobby Geddes on the heel before rebounding to safety.
McGeachie might have scored again for Dundee after a Ferguson shot had been blocked, but was off target this time. As the interval approached Morton centre-half McLaughlan found his name in the referee's book for a foul on McKimmie.
Dundee swarmed all over Morton after the break, again without showing any real danger.
It was Morton who came closest to scoring, with a half hit shot which bounced awkwardly enough to cause Geddes some bother.
With 54 minutes gone Morton sent on Andy Ritchie for Danny Docherty, and he was only four minutes on the park when Dundee went into the lead through Cammy Fraser.
Drew Busby fouled McKimmie just on the edge of the Morton penalty box, and Les Barr took the free kick and shot past.
A retake was ordered because the Morton line up was not the stipulated 10 yards away, and this time Ferguson slipped the ball sideways to Fraser, who lashed the ball at grass height into the net.
That goal put the Dundee tails up and apart from one or two delicate touches from Ritchie Morton took a back seat. The Greenock side made another substitution when they sent on Ring for Cochrane.
With 15 minutes to go Dundee made their first substitution when Brian Scrimgeour went on for McGeachie and followed this up five minutes later with Mackie taking over from Kidd.
Scrimgeour quickly made his presence felt with a shot de flected narrowly past and a header which hit the outside of the post, but, with only 3 minutes left, it was Dundee who were in luck when Bobby Geddes was right in line with a first timer by John McNeil.
In the final minute of the game Fraser sent Mackie through with a peach of a pass, but the former Celtic player was fouled when another goal for Dundee seemed imminent.
Match report written by The Courier
1981-82 | All Time | |||||
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Age | Nat | ![]() |
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|
Bobby Geddes (GK) | 21 |
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32 | - | 63 | - |
George McGeachie | 23 |
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34 | 3 | 130 | 8 |
Stewart McKimmie | 19 |
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19 | - | 37 | - |
Les Barr | 29 |
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25 | - | 128 | 1 |
Jim Smith | 20 |
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16 | 2 | 16 | 2 |
Bobby Glennie | 24 |
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41 | - | 192 | 2 |
Cammy Fraser | 24 |
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34 | 6 | 72 | 13 |
Eric Sinclair | 28 |
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28 | 7 | 251 | 87 |
Iain Ferguson | 19 |
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36 | 13 | 62 | 19 |
Ray Stephen | 19 |
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28 | 6 | 55 | 14 |
Albert Kidd | 20 |
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36 | 2 | 36 | 2 |
Brian Scrimgeour (sub) | 22 |
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17 | - | 45 | 5 |
Peter Mackie (sub) | 24 |
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36 | 5 | 104 | 12 |
No league table has been added for this season.
Today is the first time we have welcomed you to Dens Park for a league fixture on a Sunday and we must thank Morton for agreeing to play this game today.
Everyone at Dens Park feels we have to try to discover which will be the best day to play our league matches and we must emphasise that today's fixture is an experiment. We will be judging the success of failure of the try-out from the attendance.
I have always felt we are too traditional in football and we must look at every way to try to encourage new supporters to come to our games at Dens Park. Of course I am very well aware that the best way to bring people back to the ground is to build a winning team. This is our No. 1 aim, but we must also try to find out which day suits our fans best.
Our recent results have been reason ably encouraging and even more important our standard of football is improving by the week. The result at Parkhead last Saturday was a great disappointment for everyone. After going ahead and maintaining our lead for such a long time, to lose the game in such controversial circumstances was indeed disappointing. The good thing from the games was that for an hour we matched, if not played out, the league leaders. We must try to build on this performance.
When we consider that five of the players in our side at Parkhead were under 21, it augurs well for the future of Dundee Football Club.
Morton always make life very difficult for their opponents, whether it be at home or away, although their away record this season has not been as impressive as I am sure Benny Rooney would have liked. Their home form has been second to none. If they can strike their best form, they can make it very difficult for us this afternoon. We have to be determined in our own minds to get something from this match.
Everyone at Dens Park is very pleased that Bobby Geddes got his second cap. for the under-21 side and we all wish him well at what we hope is the beginning of an international career which will continue at the higher level. The work Bobby put in recovering from his injury last season was an example to all at Dens. We also hope he is the first of many more Dundee players who will work hard enough to gain international honours and to play in the Dark Blue of Dundee and Scotland. This is what I want and I am sure it is what our supporters want.
The game against Partick on Wednesday was very disappointing and this must go down as our worst performance of the season. It appeared there may have been too much pressure on our players in this important match and we did not compete as we should. Now there is that much more for us to do in our remaining games.