Dundee 4
Celtic 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

Dundee reshuffle their pack for the big game against Celtic at Dens, hoping to find an ace. Jim Duffy, Stewart Forsyth and John Brown replace Stuart Rafferty, Ian Angus and Graham Harvey. For Celtic, Pierce O'Leary replaces Anton Rogan and Mark Smith joins the 54-goal Brian McClair-Maurice Johnston strike force to the exclusion of Alan McInally.

Dundee-Geddes; Shannon McKinlay, Glennie, Smith, Duffy, Forsyth, Brown, Mennie, Coyne, Jack. Subs Wright, Rafferty.

Celtic-Bonner; McGrain, O'Leary, Aitken, Whyte, Grant, McClair, P. McStay, Johnston, MacLeod, Smith. Subs McGugan, McInally.

Referee-A. N. Huett,

Edinburgh. Needle-sharp McClair races clear after a long ball from his defence. He is deep in the penalty area when he loses control and Smith clears.

A ball from Coyne is too far ahead of Shannon and is sent for a corner by a Celtic player before Jack can reach it.

Forsyth takes three corners on the left, the second being knocked past the post by MacLeod to rob the Dundee defender of a goal from a corner kick.

Forsyth settles at right-back, with Shannon in the centre of midfield, Glennie covering at left-back and McKinlay making runs on the left.

Jack shows a fine turn of speed on the right touchline which looks promising until White robs him as he turns for goal.

Shannon weaves through the middles and goes down to a Aitken challenge just outside the box. The referee turns down appeals for a free-kick and half the crowd are convinced he is wrong.

Dundee are relying on Coyne and Jack as their strike force and Mennie is on the right of midfield.

Celtic take the lead after Glennie fouls Johnston which earns the defender a lecture from the ref.

MCCLAIR hits the 20-yard free-kick from the left through an open space into the far corner of the net, giving Geddes no chance.

Dundee respond with a 10-yard header by McKinlay from a Forsyth cross which goes narrowly over the top and a Jack shot from 18 yards which is hit as Aitken makes a strong tackle and goes high over.

McStay forces a way into the Dundee penalty area and squares the ball across goal. Johnston turns it past the post when he would probably have been better to leave it.

McStay makes another. strong run which almost costs Dundee dear. Smith holds the racing Celt who battles clear and the referee applies the advantage.

Then McStay loses control and his outstanding chance. If a penalty had been awarded there could have been few complaints.

McKinlay and Brown do well on the left to set things up for speeding Shannon in the middle. The left-foot shot from 18 yards is deflected by a White challenge and goes over the bar.

Forsyth's corner is headed on by Jack but there is no Dundee man at the far post to take an easy chance.

Mennie is booked after a foul on Grant. A high cross by Smith drops

in the Dundee penalty area and McClair is judged to foul the keeper in the air, a decision which is not popular with Parkhead players or fans.

Forsyth's corners are causing Celtic concern. A deep cross is missed by everyone in the goal area and Mennie slides in to try to stab it into the net.

Tosh McKinlay is revelling in his new role. He beats McGrain, Smith and Aitken to get the ball over and stretched defenders are glad to see the ball sent for a corner.

Half-time-Dundee 0, Celtic 1

Reflections - Dundee's switches have succeeded in that they are giving the cham- pions a real challenge. Their weakness is still the final shot. McClair's 31st goal of the season showed his constant menace.

Dundee are level within a minute, and a good equaliser it is.

Jack makes a run on the left and crosses to Brown who pushes the ball across goal. Coyne allows it to run and MENNIE hits it low into the net at the far post for his first goal of this season.

McClair shows his shooting power again when Celts get a free-kick 25 yards in front of goal. Geddes gets to the power-packed shot but cannot hold the ball as it cleared by Coyne.

Mennie also does confident mopping-up as Celts try to re- establish their lead as Smith, outpaces Johnston in the sprint for a clever ball by McClair.

A McKinlay free-kick has the Parkhead defenders in a spin. The ball reaches Mennie who has taken up the far post position, but his weak return cross runs behind the other strikers.

A great run by McStay has Dundee defenders dithering and the final pass to McClair looks great until McClair falls as he turns.

Glennie is booked for dissent after a foul on Grant. The free-kick is touched to MacLeod whose low shot from 25 yards is a couple of feet wide. Dundee snatch the lead with a great 61st minute goal made and scored by defenders.

Forsyth makes the score with a run on the right and cuts in to push the ball in front of SHANNON who chases it into the penalty area to hit a low right-foot shot past Bonner.

Dundee are on full song now and score another memorable goal within a couple of minutes.

This time Mennie makes the run on the right and provides the cross to BROWN who races to the far post to bullet a header beyond the bewildered Bonner.

Celtic take off O'Leary and send on McInally as they strive to cope with this crisis.

A Mennie shot from 30 yards skims over the bar.

They have the home goal under siege for long spells without getting close to a breakthrough.

In 72 minutes Dundee send on Rafferty for Mennie. Next minute Coyne is clean through and knocks the ball past. Bonner is under pressure again when Shannon hits another low shot from 20 yards. There is relief for the keeper when McStay hits the ball away.

An Aitken free-kick is headed out by Duffy and Aitken gets a second chance which he sends over the bar. Dundee round things off with a fourth goal in 83 minutes. Neat play puts Shannon through on the right, and his shot hits the bar. The ball fall well for JACK who quickly sends it into the net.

Dundee immediately send on Wright for Jack.

Final-Dundee 4, Celtic 1.

Summing-up-The Scott shuffle threw up the aces, new fighting spirit and a second half scoring burst which shattered the champions. This was Dundee's best of the season and it has thrown the title race wide open. Celtic were booed from the field by their own fans.

Crowd-12,455.

Match report written by The Sporting Post