DUNDEE 3 ROYAL ANTWERP 3
Dundee tonight fought back three times to gain a 3-3 draw in their final pre-season fixture. Royal Antwerp were the visitors in an entertaining friendly at Dens.

The Dees fought back twice in the first half thanks to goals from Leigh Griffiths and Mickael Antoine Curier. Late in the second half Antwerp looked to have grabbed the win but a late Colin McMenamin goal rescued a draw for Dundee.

Read on for full report


A terrific game to entertain the fans!
 
The prospect of seeing Dundee play Royal Antwerp didn’t attract many supporters to Dens Park tonight, but those who turned up were entertained by a smashing 3-3 draw, with both sides looking dangerous in attack and fragile at the back.
 
Dundee made seven changes to Saturday’s team; Casement and MacKenzie replacing Paton and Benedictus in defence, Young, Kerr and Forsyth replacing Hart, Cameron and McHale in midfield, and Griffiths and Antoine-Curier combining up front instead of Higgins and McMenamin. Dundee lined up;
 
Bullock
Casement, MacKenzie, Lauchlan, Malone
Harkins, Young, Kerr, Forsyth
Antoine-Curier, Griffiths
 
Rab Douglas was still missing, and Eric Paton who took a knock on Saturday was also out, but all of the fit first team players were on the bench, including Pat Clarke and David Cowan, both back from injury.
 
Dundee quickly took the game to Royal Antwerp with some bright attacking, but it was the visitors who went ahead in only five minutes with a cleverly worked goal. Rocha cut in from the left and played a neat one-two with Addo to go clear through the middle and shoot confidently past Tony Bullock. The Dundee central defence was opened up much too easily by the quick return pass to Rocha, but it was a well worked and taken goal.
 
Dundee responded well and had the ball in the net within a minute, but Antoine-Curier was judged to be offside from Forsyth’s cross. This set the pattern for the whole match; Royal Antwerp playing a high defensive line and relying on catching the Dundee forwards offside, whilst Griffiths and Antoine-Curier were keen to try and spring the offside trap. The result was a flurry of flags interrupting Dundee attacks, but with enough scares for the visiting defence to suggest that goals would come.
 
Soon afterwards Antoine-Curier had the ball in the net again with a fine header from another Forsyth cross, but was again offside. However, Forsyth’s fine deliveries from the left soon got their reward, and after 23 minutes he made space to cross and whipped in a beautiful teasing low cross behind the defenders and in front of the keeper, which was gleefully slammed into the net by Griffiths from six yards.
 
The game was now very open and entertaining, with Royal Antwerp’s movement and passing causing the Dundee defence problems. After 31 minutes they opened up the Dundee right for Trenson to run along the byline. His cross to the far post left Bullock stranded and Pivaljevic nodded easily into the net.
 
This time it took Dundee only two minutes to equalise. Gary Harkins had been delighting the fans with his dribbling and passing. He skipped past two defenders into the box and cut the ball across goal to set up a simple chance for Antoine-Curier at the far post. The Dundee striker would have had time to light a cigar and sign a couple of autographs before scoring, and almost needed all of that time before eventually completing the formalities and rolling the ball over the line.
 
That completed the scoring in the first half, but not the entertainment. Antoine-Curier and Griffiths were forming a lively partnership, but the star of the show was Gary Harkins. I’m sure most of the Dundee fans thought his first half performance was worth the admission on its own!
 
That was all we saw of Harkins and he was replaced by Richie Hart at half time. Dundee continued to look menacing in attack, however, and Royal Antwerp too were always dangerous as they attacked, especially down the Dundee left.
 
Leigh Griffiths was having a fine game, showing great enthusiasm, determination and above all skill. After 71 minutes he beat his man skillfully on the edge of the area, but his shot was well saved.
 
By this time the game was being changed by a steady flow of substitutions.  Benedictus, Cowan, and Clarke all came on to replace Lauchlan, Casement and Griffiths. For the last 10 minutes Dundee switched to 4-3-3 when Colin McMenamin replaced Eddie Malone, with Craig Forsyth moving to left back.
 
The change was quickly exploited by Royal Antwerp. Forsyth sold himself on the left touchline and was skinned by Hairemans. The Dundee youngster was always second best as he chased his man back to the area, and Hairemans was able to pick out Kenmogne with his cut back, and the striker neatly flicked the ball in at the near post.
 
Soon after this Darren Young took a nasty looking knock and immediately limped off to be replaced by Colin Cameron.
 
Dundee finished the match by storming the Royal Antwerp defence and duly got a deserved equaliser, with just two minutes left. Clarke drove across the face of the penalty area from the right and found McMenamin wide on the left. Colin played two quick passes with Forsyth and Cameron, and was clean through at an angle. He confidently clipped the ball past the keeper for a delightfully worked goal.
 
Dundee nearly stole a win at the death when Richie Hart cut the ball back for Cameron to hit a fierce drive which the keeper, Van Trier, blocked with his legs.
 
However, a draw was a fair result in a hugely enjoyable game, the sort of pre-season friendly that people want to see; with goals, skill, commitment, hard tackling and two teams keen to win but playing in a good spirit.
 
The Dundee fans certainly enjoyed it, but it was the Belgian visitors in the Shankly Stand who seemed happiest. They were having a non-stop party and never stopped singing and cheering, even joining in with the Fratellis when Dundee scored. I don’t know where they went on to after the match, but I can guarantee it will be noisy!
 
Jocky Scott will no doubt be frowning at the defending tonight. However, we were up against a good side who moved the ball well. There was much to take encouragement the fans, especially the skill of the big summer signings, Harkins and Griffiths, my man of the match. The midfield played well. Young and Kerr had tidy games in central midfield and the wide players always posed a threat. Forsyth’s running and crossing were particularly pleasing.
 
Dundee clearly carry a huge goal threat now, but who will Jocky choose for Saturday’s league opener against Morton? And will the defence be tighter than tonight? Turn up on Saturday to see!


Written on 04/08/2009