Dee’s late show win

PLAYERRATINGS Jack’s the lad as Dark Blues take three points

IT wasn’t the perfect performance but Dundee took the desired result as they got their Betfred Cup campaign off a winning start in dramatic fashion at Raith Rovers.

Before getting to the nitty gritty of a testing 90-plus minutes at Stark’s Park, it’s worth dwelling for a moment or two on the significance of that.

A year ago they started with the letdown of a draw just along the coast at East Fife, one that became more damaging when they missed out on a bonus point by losing the penalty shoot out that follows tied group match.

That sent the Dark Blues on the way to a shock early elimination from the competition and set the tone for a poor season that would see manager Paul Hartley lose his job come April.

Whatever, therefore, the shortcomings of this display — and there were a few — it puts boss Neil McCann’s new-look team probably on course to qualify this time round with a game to spare, assuming they take care of business against lesser opposition in the shape of Buckie Thistle and Cowdenbeath over the next week.

As well as producing victories, McCann will hope those ties see his players show signs of gelling into the team he wants.

To be fair, that last night’s display lacked cohesion should hardly come as a surprise. This first competitive outing saw five of his summer signings make official debuts.

Another, most recent recruit Sofien Moussa, came on for his first appearance in the last 20 minutes and set the proceedings alight with his first Dundee goal. The 29-year-old Tunisian’s hooked effort sparked a dramatic climax that saw Raith level through Lewis Vaughan in the final minute of the 90, only for another of the Dens new boys Jack Hendry to head home the winner in the second minute of injury time.

Or was it him? The simple answer to that question. The referee’s report will say so and after discussions in the dressing room later the other claimant, Faissal El Bakhtaoui, accepted the winner should be credited to his team-mate.

At the time no one was quite sure. As Hendry slumped to t he ground courtesy of a bang in the face that was a mark of his determination to get to Scott Allan’s cross, El Bakhtaoui turned away with hands in the air.

Not that McCann cared, nor did the Dundee fans behind the goal worry as they celebrated.

As that was happening the home players slumped to the ground and understandably so. As had been the case at Dundee United in their opening tie last weekend, Barry Smith’s men had given a very good account of themselves. Just like at Tannadice, had striker Liam Buchanan had his shooting boots on, perhaps the outcome would have been different. He missed a string of decent chances.

The number of chances given up is something Dundee will work on and they’ll also want to create more, though Allan once again came up trumps, providing both crosses for his team’s goals.

There were other pluses and as well as Moussa’s lively cameo appearance, deep lying midfielder Glen Kamara gave a very accomplished performance.

Most pleasing of all, though, had to be the victory and the way Dundee battled right to the end to get it.