Stirling Albion 1
Dundee 6
League (First Division)

Match Report

Dundee blew away bottom of the table Stirling Albion at windswept Forthbank with, on loan from Hibs striker, Mickael Antoine-Curier the man who punished Albion most for an afternoon of schoolboy defending.

There was some doubt over whether the second of his strikes should be claimed by the striker with the match announcer initially giving it as an own goal by Albion's Laurie Ellis, but Antoine-Curier insisted it was his goal as he clutched the matchball shortly after the final whistle.

"I was lucky with my second goal, it hit me as the defender tried to clear, an I was just glad to see it going in," said the hitman who took his tally since arriving at Dens to an impressive five counters in three appearances.

Antoine-Curier's goals made him stand out, but he was far from the only player in Dark Blue to impress on a day in which Dundee showed creativity and attacking power from the off, the whole side performed well in difficult conditions for good football. With a gale sweeping down the pitch Dundee kept the ball on the deck and made plenty of chances for the strikers.

Frenchman Antoine-Curier opened the scoring in 14 minutes when he was perfectly placed to roll the ball into the empty net after Paul McHale's cross had deflected off Alan Lithgow's head and over keeper Myles Hogarth, and he could have made it two when he had time to turn and pick his spot after being found by a low Colin McMenamin cross - As far as the striker was concerned this was the one that got away "I tried to give the keeper 'the eyes' but he didn't fall for it" he said post match.

With the prospect of playing into the gale after the interval the feeling was that Dundee would need at least another goal before the break and it came in 36 minutes, McHale found Gavin Swankie with a perfectly weighted through ball and although Hogarth did well to block the winger's shot he could only palm the ball into the path of McMenamin who gleefully fired it home.

Stirling needed a quick start as the second half got under way and they almost got it when Chris Aitken whacked a 20 yarder off the underside of the crossbar in 47 minutes, but just two minutes later McMenamin's cross from the left found the net via a combination of defender Ellis and striker Antoine-Curier to kill the game as a contest.

It was one way traffic now and the half was only twelve minutes old when Antoine-Curier completed his treble, and there was no doubt about this one, strike partner McMenamin was again involved, getting free on the right and hanging a cross to the back post for Antoine-Curier to head home before wheeling away to take the acclaim of the large travelling support.

That support outnumbered the home fans by nearly two to one and they were loving it now as Dundee ran riot - the fifth goal arrived in 66 minutes as Albion failed to clear a corner and substitute Bob Davidson twisted and turned before firing a low shot into the net.
Stirling grabbed a consolation goal two minutes later when Colin Cramb knocked home an Aitken corner from close range, but that came in a rare foray upfield for the home side who were being ripped apart at regular intervals.

Antoine-Curier, had picked up a knock and went off to a standing ovation, and his replacement, Derek Lyle, would complete the scoring - rising at the back post to bullet home a header from a Swankie cross after Hogarth had done well to block a Paul Dixon thunderbolt.

Indeed it was no surprise when keeper Hogarth was announced as the home side's man of the match, he'd made several fine saves and had at times been all that stood between Dundee and an even more impressive score-line.

Match report written by Dundee Matchday Programme