Dithering Dee nearly pay penalty as Currie is spot on
DUNDEE 3 (aet, 90 min 1-1) Afolabi (90+4), Ashcroft (107), Sow (112) BONNYRIGG ROSE 2 Currie (pens 25, 105+1) Relieved Dundee boss James Mcpake watched his side scrape into the next round – and confessed they were lucky to be there.
The Dark Blues survived a massive scare last night by eventually edging past Bonnyrigg Rose to save their blushes in this Scottish Cup five-goal extra-time thriller at Dens Park.
Mcpake’s men came within seconds of being left red-faced by Robbie Horn’s Lowland League underdogs who had taken a first-half lead through two-goal Lee Currie, before substitute Jonathan Afolabi struck a dramatic 94th-minute equaliser.
Former Hibs kid Currie put part-time Rose back in front with another spot-kick right at the end of the first-half of extra-time.
But the Dark Blues levelled through Lee Ashcroft’s 107th-minute header and Osman Sow sealed their place in the third round thanks to his 112th-minute tap-in.
Mcpake said: “It was a no-win situation tonight but it was still in my opinion really poor.
“We got away with it tonight and, luckily for us, we are in the hat for the next round.
“But credit to Bonnyrigg, I thought they were excellent.
“They made it really hard for us. “We always knew the chances would come but we were hitting the bar and the goalie was making great saves.
“You start thinking it is maybe going to be one of those nights. But, thankfully, we showed the character to get there in the end.
“The important thing is we are in the hat.”
Rose created a golden opportunity to take the lead in just 10 minutes.
Dean Hoskins flicked a pass through to the on-rushing George Hunter who was clean through and should have scored.
But he saw his shot from 12-yards turned past the post by home keeper Jack Hamilton.
However, their sprightly start was rewarded when they were handed a penalty in 25 minutes.
Currie’s ball into the box was aimed for Hoskins who was brought down by Jordon Forster.
Referee Gavin Duncan waved play on but then pointed to the spot on the advice of his linesman.
Currie stepped up to send a textbook spot-kick low into Hamilton’s far corner for a deserved opener.
It took until five minutes before halftime for the lacklustre Taysiders to really threaten the visitors’ goal.
Paul Mcgowan cut the ball back to Sow inside the six-yard box but the Swedish striker saw his shot blocked, before Adam unleashed a fizzing shot which visiting keeper Mark Weir parried away.
Dundee chased an equaliser after the break. Adam delivered a trademark delivery deep into the penalty area for the unmarked Sow who failed to finish.
Danny Mullen was next to try his luck and he was unfortunate to see his curling shot from outside the box fizz past the post.
It was becoming one-way traffic with the Championship club on top. Sub Afolabi then struck the bar in 80 minutes but the youngster bundled home from close-range in injury-time to force extra-time.
However, Rose were not finished and Currie struck again from the spot right at the end of the first of extra-time after Lee Ashcroft had pushed sub Ross Gray.
But Dundee levelled through Ashcroft’s bullet far-post header from Adam’s corner just two minutes into the second-half of extra-time.
Sow secured their place in the next round with a cool tap-in after Mullen’s shot had been parried out by Weir.
Bonnyrigg boss Horn said: “I’m absolutely gutted.
“We defended for our lives and I’m just really proud of the players.
“Our keeper, Mark, was outstanding and was deservedly Man-of-the-match.
“When you lose a goal going into extra-time you think they’d be in the ascendancy being the full-time team.
“However, we went ahead again although we just didn’t hold our lead for long enough.”