A first half to forget saw Dundee fall to a 2-1 reverse on the road at St Mirren.
A strong Buddies team needed no invitation to take control of the contest in Paisley and they did just that.
An own goal from former St Mirren skipper Joe Shaughnessy got things off to a rocky start for the Dark Blues.
Then a missed penalty from Zach Robinson and second goal conceded in first-half stoppage time capped a miserable opening 45 minutes.
Things got better in the second period but there were no points to be had for Tony Docherty and his side.
So what can we learn from the defeat?
The old game of two halves
Clearly the performance in the first half fell below the standards required to pick up points in the top flight.
St Mirren got plenty of joy down their right, Dundee’s left, with Colin McMenamin a real danger and backed up by Ryan Strain.
That’s where the opening goal came from, too easy for McMenamin to send in a quality cross before a flick off Lee Ashcroft’s head confused Shaughnessy and he found his own net.
St Mirren are top of the table! A 2-1 win over Dundee – who missed a penalty – sees the Buddies make it two wins from two ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5czivFn25S
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 12, 2023
The Buddies hit the bar and continued to push, eventually netting a simple second as Mikael Mandron headed in from a near-post corner.
The second half had to be better from Docherty’s side and it was. He switched formation at the break from a 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 with Jordan McGhee taking the right-back slot.
Scott Tiffoney would emerge from the bench shortly afterward and made a huge difference to the side.
The 3-5-2 doesn’t suit an out-and-out winger but the classic four across the middle certainly does and he made a real impact, setting up Josh Mulligan’s goal.
Though there was a bit of luck with a Shaughnessy clearance off the line, Dundee could have got themselves something with their second-half improvement.
Penalty pain
Last season Dundee had a real issue with penalties, kicked off thanks to Trevor Carson in January.
The new Dark Blues goalie was on debut this time at the SMISA but saved three spot-kicks in a Scottish Cup shootout at the same venue in January.
At one point Gary Bowyer’s side had missed seven out of 10 penalties before Robinson netted from 12 yards against Inverness in February. That included two shootouts.
Now their 2023 record stands at a pretty dreadful five scored in 14.
Chances
That penalty pain feeds into the common refrain around this Dundee team – letting chances slip by is a frustrating habit.
A habit they really can’t afford to let continue.
They were punished when St Mirren were on top but failed to do the same when they pushed in the second period.
Luke McCowan had the best opportunity at 2-1, doing superbly to engineer the chance himself but failing to find the corner with the finish.
Under Docherty they’ve only scored more than once in one game out of six, a 3-1 win over Dumbarton.
Owen Beck
It was a tough day for the Liverpool loanee.
He was tormented by McMenamin and Strain in the first half and struggled defensively, beaten one-on-one too many times.
The 20-year-old also picked up a third yellow card of the season for dissent. Though frustration at Saturday’s referee can be understandable, that’s something he’ll have to get on top of.
A real talent, the young full-back was given a bit of a lesson in how tough the Scottish Premiership can be.
His first half was emblematic of plenty in dark blue, though, as Dundee came off second best.
Beck and his team-mates will certainly have better days but they need to learn those lessons quickly.
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