St Mirren 1-2 Dundee: Simon Murray's double secures Scottish Premiership away win for Dark Blues in Paisley
Report as Dundee win 2-1 at St Mirren; Simon Murray scored two headers for the visitors; Toyosi Olusanya had equalised for the Paisley side; the Dark Blues are eighth in the Premiership; St Mirren remain fifth
Sunday 29 December 2024 20:51, UK
Simon Murray scored two headers as Dundee battled to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over St Mirren at the SMiSA Stadium.
In blustery conditions, Murray headed home Josh Mulligan's chipped cross to give the visitors the lead after half an hour.
Toyosi Olusanya expertly guided Elvis Bwomono's accurate centre into the bottom corner to equalise for the hosts 10 minutes later.
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But Murray headed Ryan Astley's hooked cross in off the crossbar shortly after the hour mark to earn Dundee a much-needed win after a run of three straight defeats.
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson had made just one change from the side that defeated Rangers on Boxing Day, with Alex Iacovitti replacing Richard Taylor in the starting XI.
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Dundee boss Tony Docherty opted for two changes from the side who were defeated by Ross County last time out, with Finlay Robertson and Seb Palmer-Houlden coming in for Anthony Portales and Scott Tiffoney.
The home side had the first opportunity in the fifth minute as Roland Idowu latched onto Robertson's poor clearance and drove into the box before firing in a low shot which Dundee goalkeeper Trevor Carson saved with his feet.
The visitors suffered a double blow after 22 minutes as defenders Jordan McGhee and Billy Koumetio were both forced off through injury, with Ethan Ingram and Sean Kelly coming on in their place.
Dundee's first chance came in the 26th minute as Ellery Balcombe's error presented the ball to midfielder Lyall Cameron, but Alex Gogic did superbly to block the ball on the line.
Balcombe made amends moments later though, coming out to save twice from Oluwaseun Adewumi who had raced through on goal.
However, less than a minute later, Josh Mulligan's dinked cross was met by Murray, who headed powerfully into the corner to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
Their lead would only last 10 minutes as St Mirren levelled through a brilliant goal from Olusanya.
Bwomono was the creator, getting to the byline and delivering an inviting cross that Olusanya directed into the bottom corner with his head to equalise.
It remained level at the break, although Saints were inches away from claiming the lead moments after the restart as Idowu released Olusanya, but he could only fire into the side-netting as the angle narrowed.
Palmer-Houlden then went close at the other end, running at the home defence and unleashing a powerful shot that Balcombe parried over the bar.
The game was beginning to drift until the 67th minute when Astley's brilliant hooked cross was once again met by Murray, who headed in off the crossbar to restore the away side's advantage.
St Mirren substitute Evan Mooney was close to an equaliser in the 84th minute as he plucked a ball out of the sky before firing narrowly over the bar.
That was all St Mirren could muster though as Dundee saw out the closing stages in relative comfort to secure three points.
What the managers said...
Dundee boss Tony Docherty:
"The main feeling I have at the moment is one of real pride in my players.
"It was well-documented before the game that we lost Anthony Portales, so that's six experienced players missing and players that would arguably play in any top-six team.
"Picking up two injuries early in the game, I think the easiest thing to do as a group of players is to feel sorry for ourselves, but I saw a group of players who were the absolute opposite of that.
"It's not the way we always want to win the game but it's important that we can play that way and we can win ugly.
"As a manager you can improve players technically, you can work on the training field and you can do analysis, but you can't put that mentality into them and that spirit.
"Spirit in a dressing room isn't all about getting along and going on nights out, it's about that type of performance, digging in for one another.
"They're knackered in there and every one of them has given everything. It's pleasing to be the manager of that group and it doesn't surprise me because they've done it time and time again when there's been a question of them, and there was a question today.
"I said to them I would see a lot in the performance about mentality and I saw resilience, spirit and mentality that allowed us to come to a difficult place against a good team and take all three points."
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson:
"There wasn't a whole lot in the game. Dundee were very direct and played the conditions, which you have to respect.
"We are really disappointed with the two goals. They're very poor to concede. It's things we work on and we've lost too many games to the fine lines.
"It's frustrating because we could have gone and cemented our place in the top six and we've not managed to do that.
"A few players looked a bit tired today from the exertions of the other night against Rangers but we still had the quality and energy to go and win the game.
"We did OK in the game but it wasn't good enough on the day. We've got to learn that games like this, you've got to get a point out of it.
"But also I don't want to take away from the fact that it's been a fantastic 2024. We managed to finish in Europe, we have to remember that and we're now ahead of where we were this time last year."
