Dundee boss John Brown had already resigned himself to Thursday’s game ending in a stalemate before his side secured a late dramatic victory against 10-man Raith Rovers.
Like the first match between these two teams earlier in the season, this also looked to be heading for a 0-0 draw with the final whistle fast approaching.
However, up popped Jim McAlister to score two goals incredibly, the first time he has done so in the course of one match during his career to send the near 2000 Dundee fans inside the Kirkcaldy ground home happy.
The win moves the Dark Blues five points clear at the top of the Championship table with second-placed Hamilton to play on Saturday.
A beaming Brown said: “It is a massive result for us. When you see the amount of fans we brought with us, cheering the team right to the end, it was absolutely fantastic.
“I just thought at one point, where are we going to get a goal?
“Bringing Jimmy McAlister into the middle of the park made the difference. He makes some great runs and he has never scored two goals in the same game before.
“It is an away match and we wanted to get something out of it but going five points clear is massive for us.
“To be fair, with the way the game was going, even with them down to 10 men, I would probably have settled for a point.
“But teams now have to play on Saturday and there is the psychological thing to try to claw it back for them.
“So it was a huge result for us.”
The win came at a cost with Dundee keeper Kyle Letheren having to be rushed to hospital after a collision in the second half which was seen by his parents who were watching in the stands.
Brown added: “Kyle is away to hospital suffering from concussion. I think he was knocked out so the chief executive is away with his mum and dad to the hospital and fingers crossed he will be fine.”
Raith boss Grant Murray felt his side deserved at least a draw, especially after the way they battled when skipper Jason Thomson was red carded for two bookable offences.
He said: “To lose 2-0 in the end was I think a harsh reflection on our guys. I think we deserved at least a point but we just have to dust ourselves down and bounce back.
“The referee was in a better position than me at the sending off but we felt a couple of their players were borderline as well.”
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