The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Spence insists chip was no fluke
Midfielder happy to open goal account despite claims that it was a cross
He candidly admits that not one person inside Dens on Saturday – including his own team-mates – will believe him but Lewis Spence is adamant he meant to chip the keeper and not cross the ball when he netted his first goal for the club.
The 22-year-old midfielder opened his account for the Dark Blues in the 11th minute of the Betfred Cup tie against Brechin.
Spence is the first to admit he does not score often. His last came during a loan spell at Brechin against Cowdenbeath away back on August 9 2016.
So he was insistent that Saturday’s goal owed more to design than luck.
Spence said: “I am delighted to get my first goal for the club. It has been a long time coming.
“Not one person in the stadium believes that I meant it but from the bottom of my heart, I did.
“I don’t blame them because I never seem to score. But I am happy to get my goal.
“I have done it a couple of times in training but my touch took me a bit wider so the only thing I could do was try to catch the keeper out with that.
“Everybody thinks I have crossed it but that doesn’t bother me.”
Spence added: “I am not going to bang in 10 or 15 goals a season but I think all the midfielders need to start chipping in a wee bit.
“I think we would have scored a lot more if it hadn’t been for their goalie.
“But the most important thing was the three points we got and to get through.”
The first half was very much a case of one-way traffic with Dundee totally dominant.
The fact they only had one goal to show for their efforts at the end of the 45 minutes was testament to Brechin keeper Conor Brennan’s heroics between the sticks.
The goalie first came to the rescue in the seventh minute when the Dark Blues’ Elton Ngwatala spun and fired a shot with Brennan diving low to make a fingertip stop.
However, the keeper was helpless to prevent Neil McCann’s men taking the lead in the 11th minute when Spence sent his chip in from the right towards the back post and the ball looped over Brennan’s head and into the net.
The home side seemed odds-on to increase their lead, but Brennan made further important stops from Jean Mendy and Kharl Madianga, as well as arguably the best of the lot when he tipped a goalbound effort from Craig Wighton on to the post.
Dundee were denied by the woodwork again in the 48th minute. The impressive Jesse Curran produced an outstanding cross from the right and Madianga looked certain to score from close range but his shot cannoned off the inside of the post.
However, Dundee extended their lead
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I really want to kick on, show everybody what I can do, play a lot more games and be injury free
in the 59th minute when the ball fell perfectly for Paul McGowan on the edge of the Brechin box and the midfielder calmly fired past Brennan to make it 2-0.
The keeper kept the score at a respectable level with further saves including a stunning effort from a sublime McGowan lob.
As the game edged to a conclusion, the City stopper was announced as the man of the match with the Dundee fans sportingly giving Brennan a welldeserved round of applause.
Deep in stoppage time, City’s Callum Tapping picked up a daft second yellow for a foul on Cammy Kerr and was given his marching orders.
This is Spence’s second season for Dundee and he said he is looking to make a big impact, starting in next week’s Premiership opener at St Mirren.
He added: “I thought I did well enough in the games I played last season.
“But this year, I really want to kick on, show everybody what I can do, play a lot more games and be injury free.
“I needed an operation back in November and came back in February but I didn’t really recover from that.
“I had a good time off in the summer, came back really fit and I am feeling good.
“The real business starts now, away to St Mirren. It is a game we need to win to start the season off well.”
Meanwhile, with Tapping suspended for next week’s league opener at Stenhousemuir, Brechin boss Darren Dods doesn’t have his troubles to seek.
The manager said: “It looks like Paul McLean has done his medial ligaments and could be out for six to eight weeks which is not ideal going into the first league game of the season.
“Callum Tapping was already suspended for next week but he is going to be hit with a double blow.
“We are probably going to lose him for three weeks now so we are stretched.
“It looks like we will have to try to get something done this week (new signings) as we will be short for the weekend.”