Dobbie hoping lightning can strike twice for Queens against Dundee
STEPHEN DOBBIE’S career has stretched the length and breadth of the country over the last 14 years, but Queen of the South’s historic Scottish Cup run still lives long in his memory. In 2008, the Doonhamers enjoyed a sensational 4-3 semi-final victory over Aberdeen before succumbing to a 3-2 defeat to Rangers in the final. One of the highlights of that cup run was Ryan McCann’s 84-yard stunner against Dundee in the quarter-final — the same team Queens face this afternoon in the fourth round of the competition. And preparation for today’s meeting at Dens Park has brought the memories flooding back for veteran Dobbie. ‘I actually scored quite a good goal that day but no one remembers it because of Ryan McCann’s goal,’ joked Dobbie. ‘What a feeling that was after the game, it was brilliant. ‘Dundee were in our league, but we had played Peterhead, a Junior team (Linlithgow Rose) and then Morton beforehand. ‘We played a non-league team this time (Formartine United) in an earlier round, so, hopefully, that is a good omen. ‘In terms of playing in Scotland, that was my happiest time. ‘The boys we had then, a lot of them have retired now but we still keep in contact with each other. ‘When you have an achievement like we had, you become friends for life and it would be great to do something like that with this team. ‘We will try and put in a good performance at Dundee. ‘I played my first Queens game in the cup up at Dens and that ended in a draw and we won the replay at Palmerston on penalties and I had scored a couple of goals. I would take the same this time around.’ Dobbie will not be the only elder statesman taking to the Dens Park pitch this afternoon, with Kenny Miller leading the line for Dundee, and with seven goals in 16 appearances for the Dark Blues, he still carries a goal threat at the tender age of 39. Queens fans won’t be panicking too much, however, with Europe’s top goalscorer as their talisman. Dobbie has found the back of the net 32 times already this season, and with new signing Andrew Davies already out injured with a broken foot, Dundee’s defence could be in for a long afternoon. ‘There is a combined age of 75,’ joked Dobbie. ‘Kenny is still going and I hope when I am his age I am still going as well. Hopefully, he is not scoring the goals this weekend and we can get a win. ‘It was a different lifetime ago when we first played each other. I can’t even remember it.’