Dundee 1
Heart of Midlothian 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

Newspaper extract from The Courier .

While football purists might well hav found fault with the Dundee-Hearts match it's unlikely that any of the 10,788 spectators were voicing criticism of the fare served up at the end of the 90 minutes.

The 1-1 draw was probably a fair result, but that bare scoreline in no way tells the tale of a game packed full of excitement and played at grand prix pace.

Much of the pre-match build-up had centred on the fact that victory for Hearts would send them to the top of the Premier League, but, thanks to John Brown and Bobby Geddes, the Edinburgh side had to conjure up a late equaliser and head for home grateful for the point.

Brown was outstanding. He gave Dundee an early lead, looked their most threatening player in attack, played his part in defence and generally looked more like the player of last season.

Geddes (accidentally left out of the list of players issued from Dens Park on Friday) wasn't far behind him. The 25-year-old keeper produced a couple of magnificent saves, commanded his area well and stopped a Kenny Black penalty just before half-time to preserve his side's lead.

Those fanatical Hearts fans who gave their side such a vocal backing at Dens will claim they were worth both points.

Certainly Hearts had the bulk of possession but excitement at the possibility of going top of the table seemed to affect them.

Everything was played at 100 m.p.h. and while the home penalty area was the scene of some pretty hectic scrambles it was Dundee who created the really clear-cut chances.

Graham Harvey and Bobby Connor were both guilty of bad misses before Ian Jardine grabbed the equaliser with a curling shot from the edge of the area which gave Geddes no chance.

Dundee had taken the lead after Henry Smith opted to push rather than catch a Smith free-kick. His clearance went straight to John Brown who, from the edge of the box, smacked the ball into the empty net for his fifth goal in three games.

The blame for what was a bad blow to Hearts was laid squarely on the shoulders of Smith by manager Alex. MacDonald, but in fairness to the keeper, he produced a handful of excellent saves throughout the 90 minutes.

"It was a silly goal to lose and to be honest the way things were going for us I thought we were never going to score," admitted MacDonald.

Archie Knox was left bemoaning the point that got away. "We had enough chances to bury Hearts, but didn't take them," he said.

The pairing of Ross Jack and Graham Harvey in attack didn't really work, although Harvey's ability to turn men gave the Hearts defence one or two anxious moments.

While Geddes and Brown were the Dark Blues' star men, defenders Bobby Glennie and Jim Duffy weren't far behind them.

Duffy was the only player to have his name taken and it was a harsh decision.