McIntyre left to rue missed opportunity
JIM McINTYRE expressed his frustration as Motherwell escaped from Dens Park with maximum points — leaving the relegationthreatened Taysiders ruing a series of missed opportunities.
The Dark Blues had their brief domestic revival halted in the most painful fashion having dominated much of this contest with the only missing element being a ruthless instinct when it mattered most.
Fresh from a Tynecastle triumph just a few days earlier, McIntyre’s side had their sights set on securing consecutive victories in order to boost their survival hopes.
But they were dealt an acute sucker-punch when David Turnbull converted a decisive 60th minute penalty after central defender Ryan Inniss’ moment of madness.
It was tough overall on the Tayside club who will go bottom if St Mirren get the better of crisis club Hibs today, but boss McIntyre has no doubts their cause will be helped enormously if they can maintain this level of performance in the crucial weeks to come.
McIntyre, who takes his side to Palmerston to face Queen of the South in Tuesday’s tricky Scottish Cup replay, said: ‘We put so much into the game and didn’t deserve to lose. We deserved to win it.
‘But we didn’t punish Motherwell in the first half when we were on top and paid the price for a bad decision in our own penalty box.
‘The big man is honest enough to put his hands up because there was no need to go to ground.
‘We need to make better decisions and convert the pressure into points. But that’s the way I want my teams to play — we played with energy, we battled and we created chances.
‘You have to take them, though, that’s the thing in football. Overall, I was pleased with the performance even if we didn’t get the result.’
Both sides enjoyed victories last midweek and Dundee’s 2-1 win away to Hearts had hoisted them off the foot of the table.
Motherwell, having defeated Hibs 1-0, had to endure considerable roadworks on their way to Tayside but eventually arrived one hour before kick-off to prevent any delay in proceedings.
Andreas Hadenius and James Horsfield, two new arrivals for Dundee, began on the bench while their opponents fielded the same side that saw off Hibs.
Andy Dales, the on-loan Scunthorpe United winger, saw his shot fizz past Motherwell keeper Mark Gillespie’s far post, just after team-mate Jesse Curran was forced into an early departure through injury.
Dales’ 20-yard effort was well over the bar when he ought to have at least hit the target after he had time and space to pick his spot.
Martin Woods then pounced on yet more slack Motherwell defending but he too was guilty of hitting a woeful shot which sailed wide.
Another chance went abegging right on half-time as visiting defender Charles Dunne was brushed aside allowing Andy Nelson a clear shot at goal, only for the former Sunderland striker to pull his effort well wide.
After their first-half domination the hosts were stunned. From a rare flowing move, Motherwell substitute Elliott Frear was clattered into by Inniss in full view of referee Willie Collum.
Turnbull stepped up to ensure an expert job from the spot as his effort sent Seny Dieng, the home keeper, in the opposite direction.
At last, the visitors started to show something of their qualities, although Roarie Deacon did bring out a fine save from Gillespie in pursuit of an equaliser which eluded them much to their annoyance.
Fir Park boss Stephen Robinson, whose side are only two points behind eighth-placed Hibs, said: ‘That’s our third league win in a row in the league which is great. It was a different performance to Wednesday when we beat Hibs.
‘We were very well organised defensively, we showed discipline and defended when we needed to.
‘We had a couple of chances that we should’ve made better decisions with higher up the pitch but I’m pleased with the performance.
‘Dundee are a tough team fighting for their lives. Jim has made a lot of changes and you can see they were running and scrapping, making things really hard for us.
‘I’m really pleased we stood up to that. Our last three league displays show what we’re capable of.
‘Take away the anomaly of the cup result against Ross County, which was a disappointment, but we’re trying to build things.
‘We’re trying to bring young players into the team and change a little bit of what we do.
‘But we showed today that we can still stand up to people. We can still be defensively well-organised. That’s the key.’