Dundee rivals share spoils

Jim McIntyre wheels away to celebrate his equaliser

Dundee United 1-1 Dundee

A fascinating Dundee derby ended all square, with United battling back to earn a point at Tannadice.

The first half was nearly all Dundee and they took a deserved one-goal lead in at the interval courtesy of Nacho Novo's well-taken penalty.

But United were a different side after the break and scored a deserved equaliser through Jim McIntyre.

Both teams had several excellent opportunities to add to their tallies, but a draw was probably the fairest outcome.

Dundee made the early running and Novo might have done better than weakly chip the ball into Paul Gallacher's hands inside 20 seconds.

Fabian Caballero warmed Gallacher's gloves with a fierce shot from a tight angle a couple of minutes later

United finally came into the game as an attacking force but Billy Dodds headed well wide from a good position.

Fabrizio Ravanelli curled a left-footed free kick just wide, but after 19 minutes Dundee's pressure paid off when Novo was hauled down inside the box by David McCracken and the young Spaniard picked himself up to calmly send Gallacher the wrong way from the penalty spot.

The remainder of the first half was played at a frenetic pace in keeping with the occasion, but goalscoring chances proved hard to come by.

Caballero and Novo celebrate Dundee's opening goal

Dundee continued to dominate proceedings with the front trio of Novo, Caballero and Ravanelli looking dangerous, although Craig Easton might have tested Speroni when the ball fell to him 12 yards out a minute before half time, but his effort flew well over the bar.

The second half began at a similar tempo and United immediately went looking for an equaliser.

McIntyre headed powerfully at goal but Speroni was well placed to deal with the effort.

Dundee sent on Craig Burley for his debut in place of the injured Jonay Hernandez bfeore Ravanelli turned well to fire a shot narrowly wide, although a pass to Lee Mair might have proved more fruitful.

But United had upped the ante and their equaliser duly arrived in 56 minutes when Jim Paterson bought himself a bit of room on the left before picking out McIntyre in the middle and the striker glanced a header into Speroni's bottom left-hand corner.

There was a moment of panic in the home defence moments later when Gallacher and Chris Innes got in each other's way as they attempted to deal with Ravanelli's cross, but fortunately for them, the ball was cleared to safety before Caballero could pounce.

Play continued to ebb and flow, with Andy McLaren and Gavin Rae both passing up excellent chances at either end, although Rae was penalised for a push in any case.

Alan Archibald drove inches over from the edge of the box as the game entered its final quarter but Dundee came closer when Caballero's cross was deflected onto the United bar with Gallacher beaten.

Gallacher kept his side level in 79 minutes with a fantastic double-save from Novo's close-range effort after Mark Fotheringham had created havoc in the United box with a dangerous cross.

Owen Coyle headed over late on but a point apiece was about all either side deserved.

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Dundee Utd: Gallacher, Wilson, Archibald, McCracken, Innes, Easton, McInnes, McLaren, James Paterson, Dodds (Coyle 74), McIntyre.

Subs Not Used: Jarvie, Griffin, Kerr, Robson.

Booked: McLaren.

Dundee: Speroni, Mackay, Wilkie, Mair, Hernandez Santos (Burley 51), Brady, Smith, Rae (Fotheringham 70), Novo, Ravanelli (Sara 89), Caballero.

Subs Not Used: Langfield, Linn.

Att: 12,292

Ref: M McCurry