LOUD AND CLEAR
Dundee forced to fight for win as restless fans make their voices heard
This was a game for the senses. Amid a barrage of boos, the sight of an important and much-needed win for Dundee was overwhelmed by the sound of frustration.
At the end of a crazy and chaotic encounter, one almost needed reminding that the Dens Park side had actually tasted victory.
Leading 4-1 against a ten-man opposition, the smell of fear would surely be absent on most occasions. Not, it would seem, when James McPake’s men are involved.
Passes across their backline instead of direct, forward play prompted Dundee’s supporters to vent their fury. it really was quite something to witness.
The players completed the job — eventually. But for a team which is struggling to give their fans reason to believe they can earn promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt, things are continually made more awkward than they ought to be.
in their previous match on home turf, Dundee equalised in stoppage time only for Queen of the south to seal a 2-1 win with the last kick of the game. stephen Dobbie, the hero for the Doonhamers, admitted afterwards that boos from Dundee’s faithful after 15 minutes gave the visitors hope.
And so, as Dunfermline surged for an unlikely point on saturday, the rage in the home stands grew. By full-time, there were further moans and groans. Fans were in no mood to hear the comfort that their team had secured their first win in five games.
‘For me, it’s something i don’t even look at — maybe other boys are different,’ said Dark Blues rightback Cammy Kerr. ‘The fans are entitled to shout. They pay their money.
‘it doesn’t help if they are becoming restless and you can hear stuff in the stands but, at the end of the day, we’re professional football players. if you can’t handle a couple of thousand fans having a go at you, then you shouldn’t be playing football.
‘The boys in the dressing room are all aware of that and they’re man enough to deal with it.’
Asked if it would help if fans weren’t booing, Kerr replied: ‘You could say that, yeah, but they’ve paid their money to come and watch. it’s something i’m not going to touch on because it doesn’t really bother me.’
A breathless first half ended with Dundee leading 3-1. Danny Devine’s own goal, Kane hemmings’ header and Paul McGowan’s effort put the hosts in command after Ryan Dow had equalised for Dunfermline.
stevie Crawford’s men came into this clash with five wins in their last six Championship matches but their defending let them down badly. The game seemed over when Danny Johnson added a fourth within 30 seconds of the restart.
Greg Kiltie’s second yellow card after 62 minutes should have ended this as a contest altogether. But things are never straightforward, certainly with this Dundee team.
The Pars responded through Kevin Nisbet and left-back Lewis Martin’s strike. There were 18 minutes remaining. They couldn’t, could they?
No, as it turned out. The damage had been done — but Kerr and Co, who sit fifth behind the Pars on goal difference, had been given an almighty fright.
‘it’s good to get the three points after a run of four games without winning but, again, we made it so difficult for ourselves after being in such a comfortable position, especially with a 4-1 lead and Dunfermline being down to ten men,’ said the 24-year-old.
‘it’s something we have to look at and tighten up. We need to improve. Our game management and mentality later in games is something we’ve been at fault for.
‘Against Dunfermline, it was the first time — bar the Alloa game (3-0 away win in October) — when we’ve been in a position with such control with the result. it’s a bit of complacency which you can’t let creep into your game.
‘This is the type of game we want — every team wants — when you can take your foot off the gas in terms of having a bit more confidence when you play.
‘We should have done that but we took our foot off the gas, came down the gears and Dunfermline sniffed a wee bit of complacency, which they took full advantage of.
‘On any other day, if it was a scrappy 2-1 or 1-0 win, we’d come in buzzing. But, because of the manner in which it has happened, it has taken the shine off it.’
Much like Dobbie, Dunfermline defender Martin admitted that the Pars had sensed the frustration of the Dundee support early on.
‘You could feel it — even when we scored the equaliser, you could sense it,’ he said. ‘if you’re not doing well, fans will get on at you.’