Dundee 1
Gretna 3
League (First Division)

Match Report

The absence of player boss Alex Rae through suspension was keenly felt as Dundee went down to Gretna at Dens, the visitors greater experience in midfield being a telling factor as the Dark Blues recent poor run continued. In particular the visitors' Steve Tosh showed grit and the ability to play simple football well, something which Rae excels at and which was missed in this match.

It was the visitors who set the early pace and Ludovic Roy had to be in fine form to deny Tosh, Colin McMenamin and Gavin Skelton in the first quarter of an hour. Dundee were struggling to get into the match but they forced a corner on 18 minutes and when Harris curled it in Bobby Mann got his head to the ball, that effort was blocked and half cleared before Greg Strong lashed in a volley his effort too being charged down.

Eight minutes later Dundee were ahead and as in the previous match at Firhill the move started with a long ball forward from Griffin to McLaren, the veteran striker cut inside and slid a ball into the path of Brian McGinty who fired a low shot on the turn past Alan Main.

Dundee looked more comfortable once they had taken the lead, but it wouldn't last long as a Graham cross hit Greg Strong's hand in 34 minutes and referee Brian Winter pointed to the penalty spot. Ludovic Roy went the right way but Colin McMenamin's penalty was well struck and found the net to level the scores.

Gavin Swankie had a volleyed attempt to restore a Dundee lead three minutes after McMenamin's counter but fired wide of the target.

Both sides had chances in the opening minutes of the second half with Paartalu failing to take advantage of a fine Graham cross from the left and at the other end McGinty coming close to doubling his goal tally with a flashing header across goal

Dundee were looking more likely than they had at any point so far and a good cross from Swankie picked out McLaren who hit the target with his header but failed to seriously trouble Main.

The former Morton man had looked the most impressive of Dundee's forwards but his participation was about to end dramatically with two bookings in the space of a couple of minutes leading to his dismissal, the first came after he'd been the victim of a kick from Chris Innes, the referee taking exception to McLaren's reaction and booking both players. The second came after a challenge in the 67th minute and left Dundee without one of their most experienced and influential players for the second week running.

Gretna pushed forward with the man advantage and Tosh came close in 76 minutes running onto McMenamin's cut-back and firing. just over. The Gretna midfielder wouldn't be denied though and two minutes after that chance he got on the scoresheet as he picked up a ricocheted clearance and curled a delightful shot beyond Roy and into the top corner.

Things went from bad to worse for Dundee as Paul Dixon limped off with an instep injury and then Kevin McDonald left the action with his nose splattered across his face after a challenge from McMenamin, who was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card for his part in the clash. Dundee though were left with just nine men, having used their substitutes in a bid to force a leveller.

Roy was in action again with two minutes left as Gretna picked apart the nine men, doing well to save a Jenkins' shot. The Gretna sub, a target for the Dark Blues before moving from Stranraer to Raydale did get on the scoresheet though, wrapping up proceedings with a low shot in the final moments to complete a miserable and costly afternoon for Dundee.

Match report written by Dundee Matchday Programme