McPake takes heart as Dundee’s undefeated run goes on

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IF this turns out to be a dress rehearsal for the play-off semi-final, then James McPake will have slept more soundly than John McGlynn last night.

This was a meeting of the second and third best teams in the Championship and it was Dundee who emerged with the upper hand.

It is still in Raith’s hands to clinch second spot – and with it one fewer play-off tie – when the regular season concludes on Friday night, but to do so they will need to play a lot better against champions Hearts than they demonstrated here.

Dundee did not create an abundance of chances but dominated most of the contest until a late Raith rally that brought a consolation from Kyle Benedictus but nothing more.

A red card for Dylan Tait for a crude challenge on Dundee’s Paul McGowan in injury time put the tin lid on a disappointing day for the visitors.

“We’re now seven games unbeaten so we’ve been doing alright,” said Dundee manager James McPake. “There are potentially up to seven games to go for us and if we go through them unbeaten then we would take that.”

“I hate saying that – ‘I need a favour from Hearts’!” the former Hibs captain added. “I want to get this club back to the Premiership and we need to take care of our own issues.”

Benedictus clutched his stomach after getting in the way of Jason Cummings’ driven effort but Willie Collum’s view was that it had struck his arm. Cummings was quick to grab the ball for the subsequent penalty and confidently gave the home team a 13th-minute lead.

The Dens Park side extended their lead when McGowan’s corner was nodded towards goal by Liam Fontaine. Regan Hendry did well to thump away the ball but not in time according to assistant referee Scott Anderson who hared towards the halfway line like a man late for his train.

A period of Raith pressure brought about Benedictus’ goal but the red card ended any chance of a comeback.