Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
It may be too late, but Dee finally showed some fight
THERE were 5,000 very surprised people at Dens Park last night.
To a man, woman and child leaving at full-time they’d have been wondering where that kind of performance had been all season from Dundee.
Hibs may have been on their holidays already but the energy and drive shown by a youthful Dark Blues at least gave a long-starved Dens support something to shout about.
That’s the least fans want from their side.
There were a lot more punters at the game than I expected, to be honest.
No doubt some that had bought the two-ticket deal and figured they might as well come back for the last one.
They were certainly rewarded for their loyalty, even if it is too late.
After picking a midfield three with Niall McGinn the youngest at 34 years old, Mark McGhee switched tack for the Hibs clash.
In came the young team – Shaun Byrne holding while
Max Anderson and Josh Mulligan ran their hearts out.
The latter was in superb form.
Unlucky with the disallowed goal, which was an excellent headed finish, the 19-year-old got his reward in the second half.
And he was unlucky not to add another.
Anderson has a bright future ahead of him, we all know that.
But the Dee have another gem in Mulligan.
Once he gets a head of steam up, he is a scary prospect for a defence.
Then there was Charlie Adam.
The gameplan worked to a tee – the youngsters do all the running before Charlie comes on for the final half-hour.
If there’s one way to put an absolute howler like Saturday’s mistake behind you, then smashing in a 25-yard thunderbolt on possibly your last match at Dens Park is absolutely it.
What a moment for the Dundee skipper.
He’s been getting the mickey ripped out of him on social media over the past couple of weeks for the mistake and that dive against St Johnstone.
Not many people can handle that sort of thing.
The Dark Blues skipper was a man possessed when he came off the bench, however.
He was right on his game, a couple of searching balls just evading men free in the area.
And then when the ball drops invitingly 25 yards out, there’s only one place it is ending up.
He also savoured the moment at full-time, making sure he took in the fans before making his way back up the tunnel.
My instinct is he’ll still be around in some capacity next season.
Though relegation is more than a distinct possibility, at least there is some sort of positive note to end on.
That’s all this is. One moment of joy for Dundee fans in a long, long season of misery.
Maybe it is only prolonging that misery for 24 hours.
There’s a bit of pressure finally put on St Johnstone.
It is probably too late but at least they’ve put up a fight.