Hartley hails his heroes for ending 24 years of pain

IT was all set up beautifully for Dundee. all they had to do was turn up, work hard, stick to their jobs — and a genuine, bona fide, 24- carat piece of history would be placed within their grasp.

against a Rangers t e am engulfed in a perfect storm of on-field mediocrity and off-field uncertainty, hardly a novel situation to travelling fans who turned up i n numbers, Paul Hartley’s Dark Blues did exactly what they had to do.

and so they claimed their first victory over Rangers at Dens Park since august 1992, a sort of golden (ish) era when John Major was PM, George Bush snr was still the Us President — and Billy Ray Cyrus was uniting the world’s music lovers in opposition to his Achy Breaky Heart.

Dundee deserved to break that long winless run with their first victory of 2017, a result that lifted them into the Premiership’s top six. They don’t look out of place.

Hartley, obviously thrilled to have buried almost a quarter century of Dundee teams falling just short at home to Rangers, said: ‘I remember the game in ’92. I think the fans will remember this just as fondly.

‘It’s not often you beat Rangers or Celtic, for that matter. we were underdogs — but always knew we had a chance if we could put that performance in.

‘I thought it was a real team performance. Our attitude, pressing, it was outstanding.

‘we changed our shape, pressed Rangers all over the pitch, because we were determined that we wouldn’t let them settle.

‘I never thought we were in danger today, even when they scored, because that came from the time we didn’t press properly. we were never in trouble.

‘we didn’t want to let Rangers settle into the game. They build from the back and we didn’t let them do that. Even our two strikers, they worked so hard to close them down from the off.

‘It could have been more. we had good chances to score more. But to get a win against Rangers, the first time since ’92 here, it’s been a long time coming.

‘The fans will be happy tonight with the win, the way we played and the performance.’

Emphasising that Rangers, in whatever shape, still take some beating, Hartley brushed aside questions about how the visitors had under-performed, saying: ‘I think that’s credit to the way we played today. On the front foot from the off, in their faces, we gave them no time to play.

‘ Their good players didn’t perform t o high standards because of the way we went about our business.’

Young Mark O’Hara, who scored the opener with a fine finish to a Henrik Ojamaa cutback, confessed to a certain youthful — and blissful — ignorance about the win, saying: ‘I wasn’t even aware of that.

‘It is a massive result for us. I don’t know if many people would have had us down to win before it. It is huge for us.’

asked i f beating Rangers perhaps proved that Dundee deserve a place in the top six, O’Hara declared: ‘Definitely. To win a game on the TV shows the public what we are like and what we are about.

‘ Hopefully teams will start fearing us now. Rangers are a big club and it is always going to be a difficult game against them. Their current situation isn’t ideal for them. But it was more to do with us than anything they did.’

Rangers caretaker boss Graeme Murty wore the look of a man who has already decided that management isn’t for him. The Under-20s coach was put through t he wringer by ‘ his’ t eam, certainly.

admitting to some failings, he confessed: ‘You saw a team that struggled to turn it around when things went against them. when your confidence takes a knock, that can be a symptom.

‘we didn’t implement the things we wanted to do and we didn’t control the ball and pass it the way we expect them to. Dundee had made the game what they wanted it to be.’

They did that, and then some. and were rewarded with a victory for the ages.