Keeper is Dens hero

PLAYERRATINGS Fantastic Bain helps Dee take first point of season

It would come as no great surprise if we were to learn the most frustrated man at Dens Park yesterday was a visiting manager.

After seeing his team dominate for long spells, Hibs boss Neil Lennon was pulling his hair out as he tried to come up with an explanation as to why his team were heading home to Edinburgh with just one point and not all three.

They had, after all, mustered more shots on target than most teams would have been happy with over a threegame period.

Suffering even more anguish, however, might j ust have been watching Scotland boss Gordon Strachan, who might just have felt he’d made a boob in not naming Dundee goalie Scott Bain for his upcoming World Cup clashes with Lithuania and Malta.

For make no mistake about it, the reason the Dark Blues are going into the international break after picking up their first point of the Premiership campaign was down to a perfect display from the sometime national-squad member.

Bain was at his very best as he made so many top-quality stops that you’d have needed a calculator to keep count of them all.

And, while it should be pointed out he was helped by a gutsy performance from each one of his team-mates as they battled to stem wave after wave of Hibees attack, no one could deny this point was down to the keeper’s heroics.

Even by the time a Kevin Holt penalty had given the home team a ninth-minute lead, Bain had brilliantly blocked a Brandon Barker pile-driver. That set the tone for the afternoon’s entertainment.

By the end he’d denied Barker again, Anthony Stokes on several occasions, Simon Murray, John McGinn, Marvin Bartley and others.

For good measure he also held or punched clear a good few dangerous crosses and dealt with the odd pass back that gave him less time than he would have liked to deal with.

To round it off, a couple of Dundee’s more dangerous breaks started with his quick thinking as he fielded the ball swiftly.

And, on the one occasion he was beaten, it was only by a quite sublime Stokes finish late in the first half that also took a nick off young defender Kerr Waddell.

In fairness to Strachan, a season that by his own high standards was ordinary last year meant it wasn’t a huge surprise when he wasn’t included in the first international squad for this campaign. If, however, this kind of form continues, it’s fair to say his future inclusion is a no-brainer.

For Dundee, right now what’s more important is that, come Thursday’s transfer deadline, the man who is now in the final year of his contract is still their player.

Because, have no doubt about it, if Neil McCann’s team are to have a successful season, he will be a very big part of it.

After opening with a trio of defeats, this draw represented a step in the right direction for Dundee. They were not at their best but did battle extremely hard for their point and that was encouraging.

And with the game at 1-0, had scorer Holt netted with a header right in front of goal from a Scott Allan cross, one point might just have been three.

Still, there could be no denying the one welcome point they took was down to Bain’s fantastic 90 minutes.