DUNDEE were on the winning end of a thrilling 4-2 Friday night showdown with Arbroath as Gary Bowyer’s team headed to the top of the Championship table.
Goals from Luke McCowan, Zak Rudden, Zach Robinson and Josh Mulligan won it for Dark Blues, but it could have been so different with Dick Campbell’s relentless Smokies more than playing their part.
Dundee took the lead on 40 minutes when McCowan rounded off a stunning counter-attack. The attacker finished high into the roof of the net after defender Tyler French cut out a pass in his own penalty area before darting towards the opposite one to tee up the opener.
Arbroath then levelled shortly after the interval when Nicky Low slotted home from the penalty spot.
Goalkeeper Harrison Sharp was penalised after rushing out from his goal before bringing down Michael McKenna. Low then fired his spot kick into the bottom-left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way.
Rudden was on hand to put Dundee back ahead just minutes later as he grabbed just his second goal for the club since arriving from Partick Thistle back in January.
The former Rangers man poked home inside the penalty area after goalkeeper Derek Gaston failed to deal with a cross ball from Paul McGowan.
Dundee looked to have done enough to gain the three points, but you can never rule Arbroath out, and they proved just that as Colin Hamilton netted on 81 minutes.
The big defender bundled home after a good old-fashioned goal mouth stramash and looked certain to have gained a third point on the bounce for his team.
It did not end up that way however as Dundee netted twice late on to ensure they occupied top spot in the Championship, heading into another busy weekend of action.
McCowan firstly turned provider on 88 minutes as he centred for substitute Robinson to bullet home his first goal for the club to send the home fans wild.
His goal would be topped though as Mulligan curled home a stunning finish after breaking from halfway in stoppage-time.
It was a fitting finish to the end-to-end Championship clash, but Dundee were fully deserving of their three points.
ENDS
