Max’s late brace is a shocker for Dens boss Docherty
TONY DOCHERTY made no attempt to hide his shock. It was so bad that he admitted he was close to speechless. And no wonder. The fact Dundee failed to take three points from this game remains a matter of deep mystery to anyone and everyone who found themselves in the environs of McDiarmid Park yesterday.
When Ricki Lamie put them 2-0 up just before the hour, adding to a first-half effort from Amadou Bakayoko, this game looked dead and buried. The visitors had been composed, dominant, threatening. Everything you want, really.
Saints, on the other hand, had been everything you don’t want. Toothless, disjointed, slack at the back. They looked every bit a team that has been cobbled together on the hoof. A team destined, surely, to go a fifth game without putting the ball in the net.
The truth is that Dundee should have won by more. Both Scott Tiffoney and substitute Zak Rudden passed up chances when one-on-one with the keeper. However, when you don’t defend properly, anything can happen — and that’s where little Max Kucheriavyi came in. The 21-year-old Ukrainian pounced with eight minutes remaining and popped up again way into time added on to snatch a thoroughly undeserved point for Saints.
‘I am actually quite shocked,’ said the Dundee boss. ‘It is not often I am speechless, but we had opportunities to make it 3-0 or 4-0 and I think that would’ve been an accurate reflection of the game. But you need to make sure you score when you’re in that position.
‘And when you’re asked questions in defence, you’ve got to defend it properly.
‘I can’t be too hard on the boys, but they need to learn.’
Saints did have an opportunity within the opening minutes when Sam McClelland headed over from a good position, but, for a good hour or more after that, you wondered if they’d ever have another. With Tiffoney a real threat up the left for Dundee, ably supported by Luke McCowan, it also felt like a matter of time until they’d be caught out — and the opener duly came on 35 minutes.
Owen Beck played a short freekick to Zach Robinson and his diagonal ball was met by the head of Bakayoko. His effort took a bounce and found the corner of the net.
Eight minutes into the second period, Dundee were two-up. Beck swung a corner in from the left and Lamie powered in a header.
McLean had already rung the changes by then, bringing on Chris Kane, Kucheriavyi and Cammy MacPherson for Stevie May, Matt Smith and Dara Costelloe in a triple substitution.
Just after the hour, a foul-up in the Saints defence saw McCowan send Tiffoney straight through. Goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov deserves great credit for the save that denied the ex-Partick man.
Saints slowly began to work their way into it after that. Yet, no one could have predicted the late rally that rescued a share of the spoils.
With Kane having hit the crossbar with a volley, Graham Carey delivered a deep ball from the left and Kucheriavyi headed home his first at the back post.
However, Dens sub Rudden, on for Bakayoko, should have killed it in time added on after being played through by McCowan. The angle was there for him to roll the ball into the far corner. Only he can say why he opted to try and squeeze it between the keeper and the near post — and put it wide.
Certainly, he was made to pay. With five minutes of time added on having passed, Saints launched one final attack. A ball in from James Brown was put back across goal by Luke Robinson and Kucheriavyi popped up to force it home from close range.
Docherty, though, had words with referee Willie Collum afterwards.
‘I heard the fourth official actually say to Willie before the throw-in that the five minutes were up, so interpret that any way that you want,’ he said.
For McLean, the overriding feeling was one of relief. ‘We were poor today — I’m not going to lie — but when you are poor and get a result like that, it’s good,’ he said. ‘We’re going to get better.’