Linn gives Dundee a night to remember

STUART BATHGATE AT DENS PARK

Dundee 1 (Linn 107)
Hearts 0
After extra time

DUNDEE marched into the semi-finals of the CIS Cup last night thanks to an extra-time goal from a player who might not have been on the park but for the redundancies forced on the club last week. Bobby Linn’s goal, his first for the club, not only settled the outcome, it could also have helped Dundee inch towards the financial security they so desperately need.

The tie, in which finesse was at a premium, never promised to come remotely close to the classic category, but it may just be memorable for Dundee long after the memories of the actual football played have faded. Certainly, the emotion expressed by the home fans at the end was far in excess of that normally generated by a scrappy win in an oft-derided competition.

"We said the match would be very tight, but to be honest in the first half we were outstanding," said an emotionally drained Jim Duffy. "The only thing I was disappointed in was we didn’t go in a goal or two up.

"In the second half Hearts changed their shape and the game was more even, but I still feel we merited the win. It was an emotional game - the first at home since going into administration - and the supporters helped. So I’m pleased," the coach continued, in what was clearly a severe understatement. "All in all, I’m delighted, very pleased to be in the semi-finals. We played really well and I don’t think anybody would deny we deserved to win.

"Linnie came on and had a couple of chances," he said of the goalscorer. "He’s got good ability - he’s a real talent. We’d like to bring him on 15 minutes at a time, but we’re going to have to push him on a bit more."

Linn himself was modest about his role in the game. "I still can’t believe it," he said. "I can’t describe it - all I remember is Nacho [Novo] going through. The ball came back off the post and I reacted. Well, I say reacted, but it hit off me."

Craig Levein was naturally unhappy to see his side lose for the third time in a week. "I thought the game was in the balance for long periods. We worked extremely hard and kept plugging away.

"The longer the game went on the more comfortable we looked. But we’ve come here at a time when there’s a rallying call to the local public to get behind Dundee. Maybe with what’s happened to them. Dundee deserved a little bit of luck."

Dundee had by far the better of the first half, but were kept out by some inspired goal- keeping from Craig Gordon, and, while the Edinburgh side came more into the game after the interval, neither team did quite enough to merit victory in regulation time.

Beforehand, instead of the usual speculation about team selection or fitness worries, the main topic had been the size of the crowd. Dundee’s administrator had called for a significant increase on the usual 6,000 or so, knowing that hard cash, more than sentiment, would be required to give the team a chance of survival.

In the event, despite the uninviting conditions, the attendance was respectable enough, though there was a strange air of uncertainty about the crowd as they trooped in, dread mixing with defiance on their faces. "Dee 4 Life" T-shirts were on sale at £6 a pop, buckets with the same legend were shaken in the hope of attracting spare change, and there was more than a touch of gallows humour in the exchanges between punters and vendors.

The DJ did his best to get the crowd whistling a happy tune before kick-off by playing Things Can Only Get Better, but it would be fair to say the mood was not one of unbridled optimism.

On the plus side, Jim Duffy’s starting line-up was strengthened last night by the return of Gavin Rae, who was barely match-fit enough to come on as a substitute at the weekend.

It was Dundee who started the game more alertly, and in the tenth minute Gordon did well to get down to block a shot by Nacho Novo from the edge of the six-yard box.

Without either Kevin McKenna or the injured Steven Pressley at its core, the Hearts back four had a makeshift look to it, and a lack of communication was evident in the opening 20 minutes as Dundee fought hard for the early breakthrough.

As half-time approached Dundee had failed to turn their domination into points, and Hearts were beginning to look more composed.

Seven minutes before the break Garry Brady floated a free-kick and Lee Wilkie fell down while standing next to Mark de Vries. His hopeful appeal for a penalty was rightly brushed aside by Willie Young.

Hearts were far sharper after the break, with Phil Stamp, twice, and Paul Hartley coming close.

A header from McKenna in the last minute was saved by Julian Speroni, and the match headed into extra time.

It was no surprise that, as fatigue set in during extra time, both sides found it hard to force openings. A booking for Hartley was the only incident of note in the first 15 minutes - but then, two minutes into the second, the impasse was at last broken.

A sliding ball into the box was met by Novo, whose low curved shot bounced back off the post and into the path of Linn, who tapped home.

Hearts mounted a sustained fightback, but the closest they came to equalising was when, following a scramble, Jonay Hernandez had to head off the line. One way or the other, this was always going to be a special night for Dundee.

Dundee: Speroni, Smith, Mackay, Wilkie, Mair, Hernandez, Rae (Sancho 83), Lovell (Linn 71), Brady, Novo, Fotheringham. Subs not used: McAfferty, Hutchinson, Cameron.

Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Webster, Kisnorbo, Maybury, Stamp (Valois 80), Hartley, MacFarlane, Wyness (Severin 59), Kirk, De Vries (McKenna 68). Subs not used: Moilanen, Wales.

Referee: W Young.

Attendance: 7,130

Taken from the Scotsman