IF Partick Thistle go on to have a satisfactory season and challenge once more for a top-six place, they will surely look at this unlikely victory as the pivotal moment.
With pressure mounting on manager Alan Archibald after the worst winless run in over 100 years, they somehow stopped the rot.
Kris Doolan was the architect of what was effectively grand larceny of three points that Dundee should have secured comfortably before half-time.
He was involved in both Thistle goals, the second of which was in injury time, and he fully believes the victory will be the catalyst to a concerted move up the table as he targets Hamilton tomorrow night and then St Johnstone next Saturday.
Doolan said: “We’d been in this situation before when all of a sudden the tide turns and you start to put a run together and three wins gets you right back up the table.
“That’s the way this league has been for a number of years but obviously, we could have made it easier for ourselves by getting a better start.
“There is a feeling of great relief to win and get that monkey off your back.
“You need to deal with the pressure and turn that into positive energy. I wouldn’t say we played great on Saturday but it was one of those games we had to scrape though.”
The pressure was mounting on boss Alan Archibald as the Jags had lost six times and collected just three points before Saturday.
But Doolan says they are all in this together and it will be a group effort that will aid the revival.
He said: “I would say we’re all under pressure. We put ourselves under pressure and the manager puts us, and himself, under pressure to deliver.
“That’s the nature of the jobs we are in. It’s a results business and nobody here is naïve enough to think you’re untouchable. So, we should enjoy the feeling of winning.”
Doolan didn’t start on Saturday and it looked as though it was going to be another dire day when AJ Leitch-Smith gave Dundee an eighth minute lead and Neil McCann’s side threatened to blow Thistle away.
Leitch-Smith missed a 21st penalty after he was taken down by Tomas Cerny while Sofien Moussa missed a hatful of chances.
But, with Doolan, Blair Spittal and Miles Storey all deployed, Thistle fund a way back into the game when Ryan Edwards scored in 71 minutes after Doolan’s shot had been blocked.
Then in the second minute of stoppage time, Doolan teed up Storey for a remarkable winner.
He added: “There was no better way to end our barren run. The boys were bouncing about in the dressing-room at full-time and rightly so.
“We’ve had a torrid time of it. So, the fans and management should also enjoy this win because they’ve all worked hard for it.
“I knew Miles was there. When you play with a front two and one peels out wide, then the other guy has to be in the box. It’s usually me in the box and I said to Miles ‘don’t expect me to run the channels too many times, that’s your job’.
“For the first one Scott Bain made a good save. He cut my angle off pretty well, but luckily, we had bodies in the box to take advantage and Ryan Edwards scored.
“It’s something that we speak about and that is we can’t just have one person in the box, we have to be brave and get bodies in the box to score goals.
“Hopefully I’ve given the manager something to think about for team selection for the Hamilton game.”
Dundee striker Leitch-Smith incurred the wrath of manager Neil McCann for failing to follow pre-match orders that Moussa was the penalty-taker.
However, he was dumbstruck that his side left Maryhill with nothing.
He said: "I don't know why we didn't win the game never mind take anything from it.
'We should have put it to bed in the first half as we should have been 4-0 by half-time but it didn't happen.
"I don't think I have ever been in a game where we were so dominant and lost.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel