Kilmarnock 2
Dundee 0
League (Premier League)

Match Report

Dundee are generally thought to be more consistent performers this season than they were under the previous management, but they are still nowhere near where they should be as evidenced by this performance at an eerily empty Rugby Park.

Less than 5000 turned up to see this fixture with Christmas shopping seeming an appealing alternative to many of those as they watched this turgid match.

That Steve Fulton should be the man who scored the goal which won the match for Killie' was quite fitting, on a cold, dull afternoon the travelling support had amused themselves with choruses of "Who's the chunky number eight?" - He will have enjoyed throwing that back in their faces.

Fulton's opener came in 57 minutes and followed a darting run from little Steven Murray down the left, his cross found Boyd who failed to control properly, but the ball broke to the advancing Fulton twenty odd yards out and he had time to look up and fire a fine shot past Speroni.

Murray's introduction early in the second half had at least brought some entertainment to a dismal match but it wouldn't have been welcomed by the Dees, he's got a good record against Dundee, having set up the two goals which saw the Ayrshire side come from 2-1 down to beat the Dark Blues back in March.

Up until that strike from Fulton there had been little hint that either side would break the deadlock, apart from Craig Dargo's awful miss in 24 minutes. The striker found himself four yards from goal and with only Speroni to beat, but fired his shot against the keeper's leg and away for a corner.

The second half had started with a chance for Novo who burst down the right and clipped a shot over Marshall, but narrowly wide.

That has been an all too familiar story for Nacho recently as his a run of near misses continues. It was the tiny Spaniard who had Dundee's best chance to equalise and it came seconds after the opener, a Caballero chip was aimed to the back post and Novo swung a boot at it in spectacular fashion but missed the sphere completely.

Dundee pressed and Jim Duffy threw on Juan Sara to replicate the formation used in the midweek win over Thistle but, although a brave block only denied Sara late on, there was little spark to Dundee even with four up front. Indeed it was the home side that snatched a second in injury time and again Murray was involved chipping a neat ball to Boyd who fired a low shot past Speroni.

It had been a strange afternoon, Dundee have generally scraped something from poor performances this season, but here they never looked likely to salvage a point after going behind.

Match report written by Dundee Matchday Programme