Dundee’s Rory Loy candidly admits he should have given his side an early lead against Dumbarton in the William Hill Scottish Cup on Saturday.
Instead, he could not take full advantage of the opportunity, the Dark Blues were ultimately left frustrated and now face a replay against the Championship part-timers a week tomorrow.
Paul Hartley’s team certainly flew out of the traps at the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium.
They came mighty close to opening the scoring in just the fifth minute when Nick Ross cracked a crisp drive from the edge of the Dumbarton box which smashed off the post. Loy pounced on the rebound but his shot was saved by home keeper Jamie Ewings.
Dundee did have further early chances but they found it increasingly tough to break down a stubborn Sons outfit on a heavy pitch that deteriorated as the game progressed.
Loy said: “I think on a day like that, an early goal is vital.
“The longer it goes on I don’t think Dumbarton will mind me saying they will hang on a bit.
“Nick hit the post early doors and I should stick the rebound away. Because of the pitch, I was maybe concentrating on it a bit too much.
“The manager says I should have put my foot through it and on reflection, he is probably right.
“I have sclaffed it a little bit which was unfortunate.
“I had to tuck it away. I missed another chance last week but strikers sometimes go through spells like that.
“It was a bit unfortunate but I will try to put it away next time.
Loy added: “We dominated the game and maybe should have progressed but we didn’t have that wee bit of quality in the final third.
“The pitch didn’t help, though. There was one in the second half where Greg (Stewart) played me down the line but the ball was just running away from me as I was trying to shoot and it ended up off the pitch.
“It (the pitch) wasn’t dangerous as such, it was just difficult to produce much quality.
“You want to pass the ball. The fans have paid their money and you want a bit of entertainment but it is very difficult in those circumstances to provide that.
“You are trying to get the ball down and play but you don’t want to try too many risky passes as if you give the ball away in certain areas, you might get punished.
“With a pitch like that, it makes it even harder to play these passes.
“So you need to take an extra touch which gives Dumbarton time to get back in, retain their shape and they become harder to break down.”
After the Ross and Loy chances, Dundee skipper Gary Harkins then went close with a long-range effort but after that, the Dark Blues struggled to fashion clear-cut opportunities.
They did come agonisingly close to opening the scoring in the 37th minute when Loy played in Kane Hemmings in the Sons penalty area. The striker’s dinked effort over Ewings looked certain to result in a goal but home defender Mark Docherty made a last-gasp clearance off his own line.
Hemmings did have the ball in the back of the net early in the second half but his “goal” was ruled out for offside.
There was a further chance for Paul McGowan but his shot was saved by Ewings.
Harkins then headed just over in the 67th minute from a Stewart corner and there were further half chances for sub Arturo and Kevin Holt but the game ended in stalemate.
However, Loy is sure Dundee can secure a win in next week’s replay.
He said: “Of course, you have to be confident.
“You have to be confident going into any game. I feel we did enough to show we are capable of beating Dumbarton.”
Loy’s boss Hartley, lamented the fact his side could not convert any of their chances but admitted he was just glad they were still in the cup.
The manager said: “On a difficult pitch and in difficult conditions we totally dominated, we just couldn’t get that early goal.
“The good thing for us was getting a clean sheet and I don’t think we were under any pressure and managed the game well.
“But overall I’m pleased we are still in the cup because it was always a potential banana skin and we look forward to the replay.”