Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
McGhee wants payback on his Dumfries return
DUNDEE defender Jordan McGhee has a bone to pick with Queen of the South tonight as he returns to the scene of one of the worst nights of his career.
This evening’s trip to Palmerston is McGhee’s first back to Dumfries after a heartbreaking setback for former club Falkirk last season.
The 23-year-old was Bairns skipper as Ray McKinnon’s side attempted to stage a late survival bid only to be denied all three points in a crazy contest against the Doonhamers.
With the clock ticking into stoppage time and Falkirk needing all three points to keep their hopes of avoiding the drop alive, Queens striker Lyndon Dykes gave them a lifeline by handling in the area.
Davis Keillor-Dunn stuck away the penalty to cue an outpouring of away supporters onto the Palmerston pitch. For his part in that, goalscorer Keillor-Dunn was shown a second yellow card.
Then, straight from kick-off, Queens went on the attack and won a penalty of their own as Dykes hit the deck. Stephen Dobbie stepped up to score and McGhee says that was the cruel moment he knew Falkirk were going down.
He told the Tele: “That game probably relegated us last season.
“I think if we’d have won the points that game we would have stayed up, even above the play-offs, we’d have been clear of everything.
“We scored with a 90th-minute penalty and then had a freak thing, we celebrated and got one of the boys sent off.
“Then they took kick-off, there was a stramash in the box and the ref pointed to the spot.
“They scored and that was a sickener – at that point I knew it would be difficult to stay up.
“So not great memories down there but I’m looking to put that right tonight.”
He added: “That just shows again the fine margins in this league. Queens ended up above us in the table on goal difference.
“I know they have changed a lot of players since then, they still have Dobbie, though, who scores a lot of goals and we’ll need to be switched on.”
As much as he’d like to exorcise