By Matty Blakeman
October 10 2002

Blakemans View: When is a defeat not a defeat? Matt talks about Dundees Dundees Will to fight to the end of games. Matt also looks forward to the Scotland game this week and Matt predicts the result.

When is a defeat not a defeat?  

Answer – When a team tries to prevent a defeat by trying to win until the match is over. Nothing complicated, just a will to win and an on-field spirit matched by few. This may be premature but Jim Duffy officially has my overwhelming approval as Dundee boss. Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Killie was the most recent in the side’s “never say die” approach to comeback from a goal conceded in the latter part of the match. But as I watched from The Bobby Cox Stand, the thing that impressed my most on Saturday was the enthusiasm shown in the last 20 minutes from the home dugout. Duffy, Farningham, Cameron, not to mention the unused subs, were all on their feet as the drama unfolded late on. I remember vividly with about 5 minutes left seeing Jamie Langfield run a few yards on to field of play, only to drop to his knees as Nacho Novo’s chance in front of goal trickled agonizingly past Marshall’s left hand post. Then in stoppage time came the type of moment that makes you proud to be a Dee. I nearly lost my voice as I bounced up and down, ecstatic at Fabian’s cool finish, giving us 3 crucial points. And, ever so encouragingly, the scenes were none to different trackside.

Very few could argue that, despite leaving the goals till late on, we were well worth our victory. And as for star performers, there were 3 players that stood out for me. Barry Smith played a misplaced pass in the second half. I swear I can’t recall him putting a foot wrong other than that in the entire match. He was immense settling back into his defensive role, filling in for the injured Tom Hutchinson. The second stand out performer was Dave Mackay who almost capped his showing with a wonder mazy goal in the first half. And seeing that everyone seems to be putting forward their opinions as to who should be in the Scotland squad, there is also an Under 21 squad and I believe that it’s by time that Mackay should be called up by Rainer Bonhof. Mackay is somewhat of an unsung hero at Dens and rarely lets the side down. Garry (not Scott, CB) Brady was the other player who impressed me and I must admit, I was surprised at his determination. He didn’t play that well against Queen of the South and all reports from Firhill a week earlier gave a similar opinion. On Saturday, though, he was excellent and was never afraid to put in a tackle not mention his excellent use of the ball. It must be said, however, that it was the entire team effort that gave us the win. I confess that when Killie scored, I feared the worst, especially considering how defensive they get once they go 1-0 in front. Then, as the goals went in, I realised what kind of manager we had. The only downside to the situation is that we still have to wait another week till our next game - Pittodrie, a week on Saturday.

Which of course means that we have to contemplate Jim Traynor, Chick Young etc saying how screwed up our game is as we anticipate another struggle for our national side as they face Iceland on Saturday. If we can barely scrape a draw against the Faeroes, then Iceland shouldn’t have too much trouble against us. I predict a slight improvement. 1-1.

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