Poor form continues

PLAYERRATINGS Weakness at both ends costs Dark Blues in Perth

DUNDEE’S failure in both boxes cost them dearly against St Johnstone in the Tayside derby yesterday in Perth.

The Dark Blues missed chances in the first half and it came back to haunt them after the interval where they conceded two goals.

It was the second week running they have conceded the first goal from a setpiece, making the job of winning more difficult.

St Johnstone had large spells with the ball but rarely troubled Dundee keeper Scott Bain. He had only one save of note in the first half, after a shot from Danny Swanson.

Dundee had given the Saints goalie more work to do with Teijsse passing up a golden opportunity 13 minutes in to score his first goal for the club.

A good run and pass from the industrious Paul McGowan left Teijsse with only the goalkeeper to beat but he shot straight at Zander Clark and the keeper collected it.

Tom Hateley was the next to test Clark in goal but the keeper was equal to the free-kick, turning it behind for a corner.

From the resultant corner, Teijsse could only hit the goalie with a free header from six yards out.

There wasn’t much between the teams at half-time but St Johnstone capitalised on some poor marking after the break, with Steven Anderson left alone at the back post from a free-kick to slide the ball in from a few yards out.

Gomis then gave away a soft penalty which could have went either way but the referee decided to point to the spot.

Swanson tucked the ball away from 12 yards.

It could have been worse as Swanson found substitute Michael Coulson, who hit the bar with a header.

There was a late surge from Dundee as Anderson gave away a needless penalty, which Rory Loy put away, leaving a few nervy moments for the Saints but they held out.

The inability to defend set-pieces is costing Dundee dearly. The responsibility lies purely in the hands of the players to defend these situations.

When things aren’t going well, football tends to punish you for every mistake you make and Dundee are finding that out at the moment.

The team defended well on the whole but, at Premiership level, opposition teams will pounce on small mistakes.

At the other end, not being clinical enough is also proving a problem. They are creating chances but not taking them when they come around.

After being competitive i n the first-half, after the interval it was a non-event for the Dark Blues.

There didn’t seem any urgency from the players on the park which is mystifying after their last couple of performances.

They didn’t get forward as often and the loss of the second goal proved too much for the players to stage a comeback.

The game on Wednesday against Partick Thistle is “vital” in manager Paul Hartley’s words and the players know what is expected of them.

After just one win in the league all season it would give the players a massive boost if they were to take all three points in front of their home fans.

It isn’t a make-or-break game but, the longer the team is on a losing streak, the more difficult it becomes to get out of the rut.

A game against Thistle might just be the time to get that elusive home win.