Penalty miss costly for Dee

Late drama in Dens Park draw with Clarke’s Killie

DUNDEE suffered injuryt i me hea r tac he for a second game running as they saw the chance to ta ke th ree poi nts sl ip away right at the death as high-flying Kilmarnock visited Dens Park.

On Saturday, the Dark Blues let victory at Hamilton fall from their grasp as Darian MacKinnon struck a last-gasp equaliser.

Last night the agony came in the shape of a penalty miss by substitute Kenny Miller five minutes into time added on that saw them have to settle for a point.

Having had to hang on for most of the second half, in truth taking all three points would have been something of a steal.

But the circumstances of those final few seconds made it another frustrating night for long-suffering fans, who by the time Miller’s tame kick was saved, knew relegation rivals Accies had pulled off a shock win over St Johnstone.

It means Dundee lie three points behind them, though they do now lead bottom club St Mirren by that margin after they went down at home to Motherwell.

And a first-half performance that saw Jim McIntyre’s side go in 2-1 up at the interval thanks to a double from Andrew Nelson gave reason for hope their team can reach safety.

It had been impressive start from the home side who quickly made clear they were going to have a real go at Killie, who started the night 31 points ahead.

And when Nelson struck the opener on eight minutes, the lead it provided was well-deserved.

As well as wanting to add good players to his squad in the January transfer window, McIntyre also sought to bring in character and his team showed plenty when they provided the perfect response to being hauled back level in the 18th minute.

Conor McAleny’s equaliser was a fine strike but he was given too much room. That’s the kind of mistake that would probably have seen the Dundee of the first half of the campaign crumble.

The new-look Dee, though, are made of sterner stuff. Within a couple of minutes they were ahead again thanks to another sublime finish by Nelson.

He might have completed a hat-trick before the break when he got his head to an Andy Dales cross but was denied by a fine diving save from Daniel Bachmann in the visitors’ goal.

Had Dundee gone in at the interval a couple of goals ahead, no one in the Killie ranks could have had any complaints.

Their hosts had been clearly the better side and were playing some fine football.

Under Steve Clarke, though, the Rugby Parkers are not a team that can be written off easily.

They’d had plenty defending to do before the break but had still managed to score once and go close on another couple of occasions. That meant going into the second period Dundee still had a fight on their hands.

So it proved as they drew level via an excellent Chris Burke free-kick.

His strike, after a Martin Woods tackle the Dundee skipper clearly felt was fair, came nine minutes into what had, until then, been a quiet second period.

And in the next few minutes Burke and Greg Taylor went close to giving their side the lead.

For all the improvement that’s been brought, as is always the case when men who’ve not been playing regularly for their previous employers are brought in, fitness levels remain an issue and will do for another few weeks.

That meant while there was no lack of effort, the home team did tire, making the final 15 minutes or so a desperate battle to hang on for a point.

Then came that late drama as Miller was brought down by Bachmann only to waste his chance to be the hero by allowing the keeper an easy save from his weak spot-kick.

He runs all day, tackles like a lion and scores goals. He was superb last night.