Dundee 0
Hibernian 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

A goal from Hibs' talented teenage inside forward Brian Rice, scored after only two minutes, was enough to give the Easter Road team two valuable Premier League points at Dens Park last night.

These are points that put them on the same level as Dundee for one more game played and make it a bad result for the Dark Blues, who, battling throughout to try and get a draw at least, found their desperation and anxiety working against them in a game riddled with tension.

Hibs moved into the lead after only two minutes with a goal from Brian Rice. An Iain MacDonald clearance found the Hibs inside man on the edge of the box and he scored with a low drive into the left-hand corner of the net, with keeper Kelly apparently unsighted.

The Dens Parkers fought off this reverse and Sinclair had a chance to equalise from a McGeachie header but Sneddon recovered quickly to clear a dangerous situation for a corner.

Dundee could have found themselves two down after 11 minutes when Kelly failed to cut out a Rice corner kick and Thomson's header for goal was cleared off the line by Bell.

Dundee came back with Rough having to make a good save from Mackie and Bell's elevation being well out from a Sinclair pass.

After a bright start Hibs had faded slightly and Dundee were piling on the pressure.

Ferguson and Stephen between them forced their way into the Hibs penalty box only to find the backer they required to finish off the move missing.

It was real end-to-end stuff and the fans were getting plenty to shout about. Rough had another good save from MacDonald after a Fraser free kick had the Hibs defence in a proper fankle.

Hibs moved back on the attack and Irvine had a chance when the Dundee defence failed to clear a Conroy corner, but the former Motherwell man shot weakly into Kelly's arms.

Harvey put a header over the bar for Hibs as play switched to the other end for Rough to brilliantly touch a McGeachie shot over for a corner.

Then it was Hibs' turn again. Kelly failed to cut out a Rice corner and Rae was just over with his header.

A quick switch to the other end for Rough to save well from Ferguson and the teams were cheered off the park at the interval.

Dundee had Jimmy Murphy on at the restart for Eric Sinclair but it was Hibs who moved first into the attack when Kelly did well to hold a Harvey shot.

There was a shade of anxiety creeping into the game and this was reflected in Dundee's habit of hitting long hopeful balls upfield. With 55 minutes played, Schaedler hirpled off the field injured to be replaced by Duncan.

Both teams continued to put plenty of effort into the game but Dundee were short on determination around goal.

In 63 minutes McKimmie almost got the equaliser when, after a one-two with Fraser, he hit a tremendous shot which was only inches wide of target.

Two minutes later Rough was lucky when he duffed a goal kick straight to Ferguson and happened to be in the right place to gather the return.

A good run from Thomson and a finishing shot had Dundee hearts in their mouth and the desperation continued.

With 20 minutes to go a Fraser burst into the penalty box looked promising until a great tackle by McNamara eased the danger.

With quarter of an hour to go, Dundee scorned the chance of an equaliser when Rough came out and missed a Murphy corner kick only for Mackie to shoot high over from a reasonable position.

It was mainly helter-skelter stuff now with a Kelly save from Thomson one of the few highlights.

With 11 minutes to go, Glennie replaced Bell in the Dundee ranks and a McNamara pass-back almost cost Hibs their lead, but Rough just beat Murphy to it.

The final moments of the game were all-out desperation from Dundee, trying to score the vital goal that would get them a point and Hibs every bit as determined that they wouldn't. At the end of it all, it was Hibs who won out on that one early goal which brought them vital league points.

Match report written by The Courier