There must have been some Dundee knees knocking and some nerves jangling when the fourth assistant raised the board and showed seven additional minutes at Fir Park.
No wonder given the post traumatic stress still lingering around the squad after that infamous stoppage time three goal collapse against Kilmarnock last time out. Not this time though. On this occasion the Dens men held firm to get back on the winning track – and boss Tony Docherty reckons they’ve now exorcised some of those Killie demons. Lyall Cameron – after making a gruelling journey back from Scotland under 21 duty in Kazakhstan – capped an impressive display with the crucial winner seven minutes before the break.
But it was the cool manner they saw out the win when Motherwell pushed for a way back that pleased the manager the most as Dundee halted the slide after four defeats on the spin. Docherty said: “Throughout a season there are different types of wins – that’s a big win.
“It was well documented we went into the international break with some losses we needed to respond to. It’s only eight games into a campaign but I think we can see my squad learning, improving and developing. We showed that in an abundance today.
“We have learned our lesson from the previous game and if they continue to do that, as I say, not getting too carried away, it’s just a platform.
“But the performance away from home against I good team displayed a bit of everything and in particular if gave the players a reward for al the hard work they put in to make sure they got that clean sheet. It was a complete performance away from him and then we were tested and asked questions. They stood up to it. I’m proud of them and we can build on this.”
Docherty’s starting line and subs all did a job to get the team back on track. But the goal hero earned an extra pat on the back after running himself into the ground.
Docherty said: “Lyall put in a fantastic performance. His adrenaline was high as he put in a fantastic performance (for Scotland under 21s) in midweek and he’d done a lot of travelling. After 70 minutes we had to make a decision but that’s the beauty of having a squad, you can bring on players than will carry out the instructions to get us through the 90 minutes.”