Moving on up no reason to rejoice for angry Hartley
NORMALLY moving up three places in the table would be a source of satisfaction for most managers.
However, Paul Hartley shared no such emotion having watched his Dundee side gain some ground but, in reality, squandered a gaping opportunity.
The Dark Blues, whose 27th-minute equaliser from defender Kevin Holt cancelled out Kris Boyd’s early opener for Kilmarnock, climbed from 10th to seventh place in the Premiership — yet there was still no pleasing their boss.
Hard on the heels of last weekend’s overwhelming sense of frustration from frittering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 away to bottom-club Inverness Caley Thistle, Dundee returned to home soil in this re-arranged fixture full of hope.
But they contrived to miss another chance to move in to the top six with the sort of performance which has so often characterised their season. They remain winless in 2017 and Hartley knows the importance of changing that sorry sequence between now and the end of the campaign if it is not to end in yet more disappointment.
He said: ‘We had opportunities to win it but we didn’t pass the ball well enough. We weren’t at our best, so we’ll take a point.
‘In the last two games, we could have possibly taken six points. These are the games you need to win against teams who are close to you in the table if you want to get into the top six.
‘Home games are vital for us but we didn’t perform like we can, so now it is about getting points. The performances are secondary.’
Dundee were aiming to taste victory for the first time this year, but Kilmarnock had other ideas and went ahead after nine minutes.
As the home defence switched off, Boyd chased down a long ball from Luke Hendrie and slipped his shot around goalkeeper Scott Bain.
With Kevin Gomis in hot pursuit, Boyd got just enough power on the ball for it to trickle into the net.
Dundee were shaken by this early setback but had a chance to level in 17 minutes.
Former Killie midfielder Mark O’Hara found himself clean through and he steadied himself before releasing a left-foot shot which was saved by keeper Freddie Woodman.
However, in 27 minutes the hosts did equalise. Cammy Kerr’s diagonal switch was perfect for Holt to run onto, and the full-back smashed a low left-foot volley across Woodman into the corner of the net.
That helped put the home team on the front foot and twice they came close to forging ahead before the break.
In the 37th minute, recent signing Henrik Ojamaa found space and unleashed a shot from 22 yards, which was tipped round the post by Woodman
Six minutes later, Tom Hateley’s flighted cross picked out Marcus Haber.
The Canadian international looked like he was picking his spot but then saw his header from close range blocked by the Killie defence.
The visitors threatened at the start of the second half, with Boyd latching on to a short pass-back by Gomis, but Bain did well to race off his line and clear the danger.
At the other end, Ojamaa’s cross was met by Haber but the big striker was at full stretch and could not direct his effort on target.
With six minutes left, Dundee came close again when substitute Marc Klok’s cross was headed downwards by Kostadin Gadzhalov, but Woodman saved before substitute Faissal El Bakhtaoui dragged his late shot past the post.
Afterwards, Kilmarnock boss Lee Clark was mainly positive about his team’s efforts.
‘We had started brilliantly and deservedly took the lead,’ he said.
‘If there was any slight criticism, we should have been more ruthless in front of goal. But, overall, I liked the level of our performance.
‘We were passing the ball well and look a good, confident side.
‘There are lots of positives. Being hyper critical, I would say we need to turn these good displays into victories.
‘I believe we are a bit short of around eight points from having dominated games and not taken what we truly deserved.
‘This league is crazy at the moment and who knows where we will be by the next time we play — because our next game isn’t until Sunday (against Aberdeen at Rugby Park).’