Dundee 2
Queen of the South 3
League (First Division)

Match Report

On a day when Dundee finally looked like they had an answer to there striking problems a horrendous seven minute spell cost them dearly. New boy Colin McMenamin certainly looked the part, two goals, a shot that came off the bar and a menace to the visiting defence. Approaching the hour mark Dundee were one up and looking likely to add to it.

But in 57 minutes disaster struck as Craig Samson fired a clearance off Queen of the South striker Sean OConnor and watched in horror as it rebounded into the net. That started a short but sweet spell for the Dumfries side which would win them the game. OConnor added a second and Paul Burns a third as Dundee's defence fell apart.

Just after the third McMenamin clipped a shot onto the face of the bar and in the final moments he netted from inches out - but this week the late goal counted for nothing.

Two goals on his debut in Dark Blue for Colin McMenamin wern't enough as a bizarre seven minute second half spell look to have severely dented Dundee's title bid. It was the first time in seven fixtures that an attacker had scored for Alex Rae's men and McMenamin looked dangerous as he partnered Bob Davidson up front with Derek Lyle still suspended.

The game started slowly as both teams struggled to make any possession count before McMenamin grabbedhis first. Scott Robertson squared the ball for the former Gretna man and after adjusting his feet he shot under visiting keeper Jamie McDonald for the opener.

Queen of the South looked to haul themselves back into the game and after the referee had waved away appeals for fouls on Davidson, McDonald and McMenamin the ball was hooked forward but Sean O'Conner couldn't find his way past Samson as his angle was narrowed down. The borders side should however have been 2-0 down with twenty minutes played when Queens defender Aitken was caught out but McMenamin could only fire his shot from inside the area straight into the awaiting arms of McDonald.

Eddie Malone then picked up Paul McHale's through ball and cut inside feeding the ball to Swankie but his shot was palmed away at the near post. As the half drew to a close Stephen Dobbie should have levelled things up. Robert Harris's corner kick was neatly delivered into the six yard area with Dobbie sending his effort over the bar when it looked easier to score.

The first half looked to have come at the wrong time for the home side as they looked to build on the bulk of posession. However with fifty-five minutes on the clock Queens created their first shot on target: Paul Burns testing Samson with the keeper equal to the effort before Kevin McDonald was disposessed in the area at the other end.

But the damage was to be done in the 57th minute as Craig Samson's error gifted the visitors what looked to be a lifeline. His clearance from a pass back rebounded off the boot of Sean O'Conner and into the back of the net with both home and away fans stunned into silence.

Things were to go from bad to worse as another defensive lapse gave Gordon Chisholm's side an undeserved lead, but a lead none the less. Stevie Tosh's free kick was missed by everyone and although Paul Burns was upended by Samson the referee allowed play to continue and O'Conner had the easy task of tapping the ball into the empty net.

In what can only be described as their worst defensive showing of the season the usually strong rearguard let in Paul Burns to score a third as he turned in Robert Harris's cross. It would have been 3-2 moments after the re-start but McMenamin saw his shot come back off the crossbar to leave many Dundee fans feeling this wasn't to be their day.

Alex Rae threw on all three subs in the form of Daquin, O'Brien and Zemlik for Worrell, Swankie and McHale in a bid to claw something back but a mere consolation was all the team could muster as McMenamin scored his second of the game in the 90th minute leaving Dundee a mountain to climb in the bid for promotion.

There were three bookings in the game, all of which coming for the visitors as Ryan McCann, Jim Thomson and Andy Aitken all found themselves cautioned.

Match report written by Joanna Topping - Official Dundee website