Match Report - By Steven Mew

Brechin welcomed Dundee to Glebe Park today which had the makings of an exciting encounter. Dundee were relegated from the SPL last season while City did the opposite, winning the 2nd division championship. With the game being a local derby, a large crowd was expected, certainly one of the biggest in Glebe Park for quite a while at least.

City started with Craig Nelson between the sticks, with Scott Walker, Paul Deas, David White and Craig McEwan in defence. The midfield consisted of Charlie King, Steven Ferguson, Kevin Byers and Stuart Callaghan, and to many City supporters surprise, influential Grant Johnson wasn’t even on the bench today. Paul Ritchie partnered former Dundee assistant manager Gerry Britton upfront, meaning Stevie Hampshire was relegated to the bench. Alan Kernaghan had quite a few injury worries for this match which meant he had to list a few youth players in the 16 man squad. City supporters didn’t get a glimpse of Derek ‘Soapy’ Soutar however, as he was out injured, so Kelvin Jack took his place between the sticks. An interesting stat before today’s match was that Dundee hadn’t won an away match for more than a year, and hadn’t won a match outside of Dundee for more than 500 days.

A large crowd of just over 2,000 crammed into Glebe Park for this encounter, but they weren’t treated to an excellent game of football they might have expected. The opening quarter of an hour was somewhat drab with no sides registering a shot on goal, however, after 15 minutes the Dark Blues took the lead. A long ball upfield was misjudged by Paul Deas, and on-form striker Simon Lynch latched on and took the ball round Craig Nelson before tapping the ball towards the empty net, the ball evaded Paul Deas before ending up in the bottom corner of the goal.

The game then continued as it started, with no sides really threatening. However, Craig Nelson made a point blank save from Steven Craig after a corner from the left hand side wasn’t properly cleared by the Brechin defence. With half an hour on the clock Brechin found themselves two nil down. New recruit Steven Craig beat Davie White for pace down the left hand side before rifling the ball low into the net from an awkward angle.

Barely five minutes later Dundee scored a third goal. Simon Lynch got his second of the game, taking advantage of some terrible defending by Brechin to strike high into the net to give the Dark Blues an unassailable lead. Minutes later City tried to hit back on the break but a shot from Paul Ritchie went over the bar. Kevin Byers also tried his luck from long range but his curling drive went straight into the arms of Kelvin Jack.

Just as the 1st half drew to a close City pulled a goal back. Some excellent trickery from Charlie King down the left hand side ended in a cutback which went to the feet of Stuart Callaghan, whose blistering strike flew into the top corner of the net to give City a glimmer of hope.

The second half had to be one of the most uneventful 45 minutes I’ve ever witnessed at a football match. There were very few chances worth mentioning. Minutes into the second half Simon Lynch was put through on goal but the striker dragged his shot wide of the post. Craig Nelson was called into action on the hour mark to make a superb reflex save before Gerry Britton’s shot went wide of the goal. Stuart Callaghan was dismissed mid-way through the second half for handball.

Something that has to be mentioned was the disgraceful behaviour by a small minority of the Dundee fans standing at the Hedge Side during the first half. One idiotic individual threw himself on the pitch before attempting to trip of the linesman, all while the game was being played!

However, it was a poor performance from Brechin once again and Dundee were well worthy of their three points. Their clinical finishing was the only difference between the two teams when a gale force wind spoiled the match. Two away games on the trot now for Brechin, against St Johnstone and Hamilton, both of whom are expected to be challenging for the title throughout the season.

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Ross County 1 Queen of the South 1

Queens still remain bottom despite draw up in Dingwall.

Stranraer 1 St Johnstone 1

A late Michael Moore goal gives Stranraer a hard earned point.