Turnaround a bitter blow

Nov 6 2007 Gordon Bannerman

THE contrast between half-time and the soundtrack greeting the end of a pulsating derby could not have been more marked.

A Dundee side barracked by agitated home supporters after slouching precariously on the ropes for 45 minutes were rejuvenated by timely tactical changes and inflicted a wounding defeat on Saints with a winner two minutes into stoppage time.

While the bulk of Dens Park celebrated a last-kick strike from impressive midfield powerhouse Kevin McDonald, Perth fans and players held their heads in their hands and tried to make sense of an extraordinary turnaround.

This morning they will still be trying to fathom out what went wrong.

Only the fact that leaders Hamilton came a cropper in the closing minutes at Dumfries staved off disaster.

The gap, however, remains at a formidable 10 points, although Dundee have stolen a march to tuck in three behind the early pacesetters.

The Dark Blues don't get fazed by slipping a goal behind. They're serial offenders and it's now the norm. But they were rocking and reeling like a drunk in the Overgate as a whirlwind blew in from the Perth direction.

For 20 minutes Saints were playing sublime stuff but, bizarrely, it was a goal which seemed to leave them becalmed.

Defender Gary McKenzie should have been watching the game from the stand for 70 minutes after saving a fierce Paul Sheerin strike with his arm.

Referee Iain Brines was slaughtered for his contribution to an SPL match in midweek and this decision did little for any remaining credibility.

Even the advantage rule was overlooked, with his instant call cancelling out Andy Jackson's close range finish.

The pressure was immense on Sheerin, whose last spot-kick at Dens was a rare miss, but the midfielder calmly sent one-time Saints keeper Samson off in the wrong direction.

It was his sixth conversion of the campaign and due reward for football's equivalent of a full-court press. Saints were threatening to steamroller their local rivals with Rocco Quinn at the heart of every move.

Jackson beat him to a Goran Stanic cross and the keeper saved, a sublime 30-yard pass was clipped past the goalie and the target by Willie McLaren's instinctive but wayward touch and Samson bravely dived at his feet before requiring a goal line clearance from the subsequent corner. And all this inside seven minutes.

Steven Anderson helped wrestle the penalty, with Sheerin thrashing his set-up goalwards only to be thwarted by an armed intervention.

Even McKenzie expected to walk but out came a yellow card to extend his stay.

Manager Owen Coyle stuck with McLaren until late in the contest but fans weren't quite so patient as the winger was allowed to linger. He found the side net from a Derek McInnes header with a queue inside anticipating a cross before Alan Main made his only save of the first half, smothering a Daquin header.

Abuse was heaped on Dundee's forlorn personnel as they made for the dressing room but with McHale and traditional Saints tormentor Swankie thrown into the mix, it was a different beast Saints had to handle in the second 45.

A horribly short Goran Stanic back pass was blazed past by Swankie within seconds of the resumption and that set the tone for an apprehension second half. Gone was the early swagger and assurance.

Instead nerves were frayed again as Lyle miscued a snip in the 47th minute and on the hour brilliant McDonald control sucked in Perth defenders and allowed the unmarked Davidson to find the corner and change the entire complexion of the match.

Dundee were dominant for long spells but escaped when Anderson scooped a Quinn free-kick over the target.

It was odds-on the draw when late pressure allowed McDonald to stroke a 15-yard finish past Main from Davidson's feed and put an end to St Johnstone's 10-game unbeaten run.

Dundee: Samson, Corrigan, Dixon (Swankie 46), McDonald, McKenzie, Palenik, Daquin (McHale 40), Robertson, Lyle (Sturm 85), Davidson and Malone. Subs not used: Worrell and O'Brien.

St Johnstone: Main, Irvine, Stanic, McInnes, McManus, Anderson, Quinn, Sheerin, Deuchar, Jackson (MacDonald 65) and McLaren (Weatherston 83).

Subs not used: Stewart, Lawrie and Cuthbert.

Referee: Iain Brines.