Glory Night At Dens

Dundee 3 Hamilton Academical 2 (After Extra Time)

Mann 56 Juanjo 75

Lynch 68 Keogh 82

Craig 91

Seven thousand Dees crammed into Dens Park on a glorious Cup night to see Dundee progress through to the semi final stage of the Scottish Cup. But it wouldn’t have been Dundee if they didn’t do it the hard way, and make the massive home support sweat for stages of the game.

Manager Alan Kernaghan made three changes from the side that lost to Accies on Saturday. Kelvin Jack replaced Scott Murray in goal, and Lee Wilkie replaced Callum MacDonald in the centre of defence for his first start in a year. Tam McManus took the place of suspended skipper Barry Smith and slotted into the right side of midfield, with Bobby Mann taking the captain’s armband.

Apparently Accies had a decent chance to open the scoring in the very first minute, but this was missed by a lot of fans as hundreds were still in queues stretching down Sandeman Street and Dens Road. Many fans missed a good fifteen minutes of the game before taking their seats.

Dundee certainly had the upper hand in the first half, and forced lots of corners and throw-ins but didn’t really force Accies ‘keeper McEwan into any real save. At the other end Dundee ‘keeper Jack was called into action to palm away a Mark Gilhaney drive from distance.

Wilkie came close when he got his head onto a Dixon cross but his header was saved by McEwan. It was disappointing from a Dundee point of view that the teams went in level at the break, as Dundee deserved a goal from the amount of ball possession they had.

Dundee started brightly again in the second half, and McManus had a decent chance when he was sent through by Deasley, but his shot from the angle was just over the bar.

However, it wasn’t long before Dundee did take the lead. Dixon’s long throws had been causing bother in the Hamilton defence and this one was met by Bobby Mann who directed a downward header low into the bottom right hand corner.

Dundee nearly extended their lead shortly afterwards from similar circumstances. Dixon’s throw in from the other side was flicked on by Wilkie but McEwan reacted well to palm the ball away low to his right.

The second goal came soon after though. McManus worked a short corner with Brady and when the ball came back to Tam his vicious cross was met by Lynch who glanced a header into the corner.

At this stage Dundee were dominating and it seemed like they would see out the game comfortably. Billy Reid and Accies had other ideas though, and a couple of changes were made in an attempt to get back into the game.

They did just that after 75 minutes. Juanjo’s in swinging free kick from the left was missed by everyone – including Jack and the ball nestled in the bottom corner to throw Accies a lifeline.

Kevin McDonald took matters into his own hands to try and secure a win for the Dee’s. He surged past three Accies players before he was scythed down on the edge of the box. Paul Dixon took the free kick but his effort was saved once again by McEwan.

Just a couple of minute’s later Hamilton were level. A Juanjo free kick from a similar position was only half cleared and when the ball was headed back into the danger area a suspiciously offside looking Keogh bundled the ball home from close range.

The end of the 90 minutes was welcomed by Dundee as it gave the team a break and a chance to regroup in preparation for 30 minutes of extra time.

And extra time couldn’t have started better for the Dee’s. A cross-field ball was controlled by the arm of Craig, before he wriggled past McLaughlin and fired a cracking 18-yard drive high past McEwan.

There were several half chances throughout the rest of extra time, but neither ‘keeper was troubled too much as players started to become tired. The final whistle brought fantastic celebrations both on the park and in the stands as Dundee booked their place at Hampden on April 1st.

For Dundee the midfield quartet was superb with McManus, Robertson, McDonald and Brady putting in a mammoth effort with lots of strong running on the ball, and a great amount of dig in the centre of the park.

However, it would be unfair to single out any player as having a better game than any other. The night was about the whole team and every player from 1-16 played a part in a great night for the club and everyone associated with the club.

The semi will be played v Gretna at Hampden Park on April 1^st, with a 12.15 kick off.

Dundee’s next league game is away to Airdrie United on Saturday 11^th March.

Man of the Match – Email Syd with your votes for Man of the Match sydeefc62@btinternet.com

Dundee: Jack, Robertson, Dixon, Mann, Wilkie, McCluskey, K. McDonald, Brady, Lynch (MacDonald 116), Deasley (Craig 76), McManus (Ferguson 98)

Subs not used: Law, Murray (gk)

Hamilton Academical: McEwan, Robertson, McLaughlin, Balmer, Thomson (Wilson 70), Neil, Ferguson (Juanjo 51), McArthur, Wake, Tunbridge (Keogh 70), Gilhaney

Subs not used: Elebert, Jellema (gk)

Referee: D. McDonald

Attendance: 7460