LOOKING DOOMED

Dundee left marooned at bottom after dire display

DUNDEE’S alarming freefall continues apace.

Second-half goals from Scott Tanser and Callum Hendry gave St Johnstone a comfortable victory in the Tayside derby but condemned a sorry Dundee side to some unwelcome asides; for the first time in their history they have endured a run of eight straight defeats, while Saints have won all four of their meetings in one season against the Dens Park side.

How Dundee would be delighted if the ignominy of this run was little more than a loss of pride and bragging rights. Instead, they are a statistical footnote in a season that has grown more foreboding with each passing week.

With St Mirren twisting away to put daylight between the teams at the bottom — the Paisley side are six points better off with four games remaining after their win over Livingston yesterday — Dundee’s predicament seems increasingly irretrievable.

And it showed in this performance. It lacked conviction and suggested a lack of belief that they are capable of engineering the results that would bring some kind of relief. Instead, each game seems to add to the sense of inevitability about their fate.

Dundee manager Jim McIntyre was ashen-faced in the aftermath of an encounter that leaves the Dens Park side on the brink.

And, while he can do little publicly other than speak of a willingness to get it right, there is little escaping that the flawed basics in Dundee’s game are what have undermined them throughout what has been a wretched season.

‘We were so guilty of giving the ball away in key areas and I felt we showed a lack of quality on the ball,’ he observed.

‘St Johnstone fed off that. The amount of times they picked the ball up off a slack pass and broke.

‘We didn’t stop enough crosses. We spoke about the need to do that and we didn’t do it.

‘We spoke at half-time about the need to be better because there were opportunities.

‘But once the first goal goes in it’s difficult. We’re on the ball in the middle of the park, we give it away, then we give a free-kick away, and they punish us.

‘The second goal comes from a throw-in and us not matching a runner.

‘It’s a simple throw and a simple cross and that’s not good enough. It’s not doing their jobs.

‘They are jobs we work on. They know what’s expected of them in those key areas. That’s why we’ve been punished. We’re not stupid.

‘We know that we need to probably win four matches on the bounce to still have a chance. That’s the reality of it.’

St Johnstone controlled the ebb and flow of the game from the opening minutes and the story of the early exchanges was there in the fact that the first time St Johnstone goalkeeper Zander Clark had to muddy his gloves was a minute before the break.

And, even then, that came when Craig Curran sent a fairly tame effort from the edge of the box directly into his arms.

Much of the incursions from the McDiarmid Park side came from the left as the impressive and industrious Matty Kennedy was frequently allowed time and space to make his mark.

It was Kennedy who had brought out the first save of the game from Dundee goalkeeper Seny Dieng, a moment that set the tone for much of what followed as St Johnstone probed and prodded for an opener, with Dieng kept on his toes.

There was an air of menace whenever the hosts went forward. To their credit, Dundee tried to sniff out chances of their own despite finding themselves up against it for much of the game.

Veteran striker Kenny Miller showed his experience when he capitalised on a slack pass from Richard Foster. Picking up possession, Miller played in Paul McGowan, who lifted his effort from distance just over the bar.

But it was a deviation from a script that was weighted in St Johnstone’s favour, with much of the game played in the opposite box.

Hendry had a header saved by Dieng and there was a feeling that St Johnstone were within themselves for much of that opening period.

When their pressure bore fruit and Dundee conceded the opener just after the break, there was never going to be a way back.

Darren O’Dea had fouled Hendry just outside the box, with the Republic of Ireland defender copping a booking in the process.

The real punishment, however, came after referee Alan Muir allowed St Johnstone to play the advantage before then bringing the free-kick back.

From the subsequent set-piece, Tanser lifted his left-foot effort high into the roof of the net.

The body language and sense of collapse within the Dundee side was difficult to escape and there was no sense that they would muster the required mettle and belief to get back into the game.

McIntyre tried to change things with Scott Wright and Miller sacrificed before the hour mark with the striker irked at going off. It did not stem the tide. Hendry added a second with a diving header to convert a Foster cross and it seemed then like an exercise in damage limitation.

Saints manager Tommy Wright can luxuriate in the comfortable position of having very little at stake between now and the final four games. Seventh place looks plausible, while an improvement of last season’s tally has already satisfied his drive for constant improvement.

‘I questioned them at Kilmarnock and they have bounced back and it is huge for them to finish in seventh place,’ he said. ‘We have got more points than last season and they should be pleased with how they have done this season because there has been an improvement.’

How McIntyre would love to be walking in those shoes at the present moment in time.