Dundee made it two wins from two in the Premier Sports Cup as they swept Stranraer aside at Stair Park.
The Championship outfit didn’t have it all easy against Jamie Hamill’s stubborn side but ground their League Two opponents down to come away 3-0 winners.
Gary Bowyer’s men began the contest well on top but without the early chances to show for their dominance with Stranraer happy to defend deep.
Eventually the pressure told late in the half with two dark blue efforts cleared off the line before Cammy Kerr headed his side in front.
Their dominance was even greater in the second period with Harry Sharp largely a bystander.
But it took until 73 minutes to put the game to bed as Paul McGowan smashed in from Ryan Sweeney’s knock-down.
Sub Luke McCowan would curl in a lovely third goal on 83 minutes to complete the scoring.
Finding a way through
Stranraer set their stall out to avoid losing five goals for the third match running and made life tricky for their Championship opponents.
Dundee kept the ball for much of the first half but struggled to make any meaningful in-roads until the closing stages of the opening period.
In that time manager Gary Bowyer was getting more and more irate in his technical area.
Fin Robertson in midfield and Tyler French were in the firing line at times as the Dark Blues looked for more from his side.
Eventually, after knocking on the door for 43 minutes, Dundee found a way through as Kerr leapt highest to meet Niall McGinn’s corner.
The second half saw more of the same with the visitors camped in the Stranraer half.
But it took until the closing stages to find that ruthless finishing touch.
Ben Williamson
New loan signing Williamson made his Dundee entrance with half-an-hour to play, replacing Shaun Byrne in central midfield.
His first involvement could have been special as the ball dropped to the Rangers kid on the edge of the area.
His strike, though, flew over the crossbar.
Williamson was keen to get involved in the middle of the park, adding some energy and quality on the ball.
He was quick to tell his team-mates to sharpen up late on, too, after a bit of slackness at 2-0.
Where do they stand?
Halfway through their fixtures, Dundee are now locked in a three-way battle with Queen’s Park and Hamilton on six points.
Accies have played a match extra and the Dark Blues have already seen them off, of course.
This season’s competition is tighter than usual, though – all group winners go through as usual, but there are only three seeded spots up for grabs.
And only the top three runners-up get a spot in the knockout rounds.
Queen’s Park away on Tuesday will be another test against a Championship rival.
It will likely decide the group winner, too.
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