The Thistle Archive

Dundee dramatically snatched all three points from Partick Thistle as Simon Murray scored a 90th-minute winner. The striker had already equalised for the visitors in the 84th minute with his first goal since moving on loan to Dundee from Hibernian. Partick were in front at half-time thanks to Conor Sammon's eighth goal of the season. Dundee move up to eighth in the Premiership table. Partick Thistle remain in 10th.

The home side started confidently, and there was an early opportunity for Sammon to strike, only for Dundee defender Josh Meekings to brilliantly get himself in the Irishman's way just as he looked set to finish off a flowing Thistle move. Thistle were making all the running in the opening stages but it was Dundee midfielder Glen Kamara's mistake which almost presented them with the opener on 27 minutes. The former Arsenal trainee took a heavy touch as he tried to control Miles Storey's cross but Martin Woods could not take advantage as his first-time effort flew straight at Dundee goalkeeper Elliott Parish. The visitors eventually got going as the half-hour mark ticked by. Murray could not beat Tomas Cerny with a lob, while the Partick Thistle goalkeeper was just as alert to deny Mark O'Hara after he had robbed Callum Booth. Roarie Deacon was next to threaten for Neil McCann's side as his pile-driver fizzed just wide, but it was the hosts who grabbed the half-time lead as Sammon continued his hot streak. Mustapha Dumbuya sent a cross to the back post which was knocked down by Ryan Edwards for Sammon, who bundled it over the line before Parish could claw away the danger.

Dundee should have hit back five minutes after the restart, however. Sofien Moussa's attempted overhead kick was never any threat to Cerny but it did drop for strike partner Murray, who completely missed the target from just three yards out. Thistle also wasted the chance to double their lead after 60 minutes when Chris Erskine calmly brought down Storey's cross in the box, but his spin and shot was kept out by Parish's legs. But with the clock ticking towards 90 Dundee launched a cavalry charge. Murray grabbed the leveller on 84 minutes as he pounced at the back post to turn home an A-Jay Leitch-Smith effort. He had the ball in the net again seconds later only to be flagged offside, while Leitch-Smith rattled a post. However, Dundee refused to settle for a point and landed their winner in the 90th minute as Steven Caulker's deflected strike broke for Murray, who climbed above a ruck of players to nod home.

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald was frustrated that his players could not hold on to their lead with six minutes remaining:

We were comfortable enough, we played very well, we deserved our goal when we got it, and I thought we should see the game out. Abdul [Osman] was fouled in the build-up to their first goal and we don't get that. The only negative was our game management when Dundee were trying to get back into the game. The positives are we're creating chances, but we've got to keep the back door closed.

Dundee boss McCann was pleased that his players reacted positively to losing to 10-man Kilmarnock in midweek:

It's a huge win for us, considering we're coming off a very poor result in midweek. I felt the first half was reflective of how we felt after Tuesday night. We sat too deep, our midfield was too close to our defence, but we adjusted that in the second half and I felt we were the better side. I'm pleased because we didn't panic, continued to play and it was two fantastic goals. I'm so delighted for Simon Murray, you could see what it meant to him to score for the club he grew up supporting. He maybe snatched at a few and I said to him to relax a wee bit. He was maybe hunting for the goal so badly because it meant so much to him. He got his first and the second one he was just in the right place at the right time. We weren't just content in going for the point, which pleased me. It's a great feeling in the dressing room just now.

bbc.com

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POINTS SLIPPING AWAY

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