The last time Dundee beat Rangers at Dens they had fedora-wearing boss Simon Stainrod in the dugout.
Current manager Paul Hartley prefers a rather less flamboyant tammy but, regardless of the choice of headgear, let’s doff the cap to a battling Dark Blues team as they finally ended their Dens drought against the Ibrox men.
Back on August 15, 1992, their goal heroes in a thrilling 4-3 success were captain Billy Dodds with a double, Ivo den Bieman and Ian Gilzean.
This time it was all about Mark O’Hara and Kevin Holt.
O’Hara opened the scoring on 13 minutes with a sweet strike then Holt squeezed a freekick home four minutes before the interval. Joe Garner pulled one back for the Light Blues but it wasn’t enough.
The victory was also Dundee’s first of the year and they have now gone seven in the league at home without defeat, stretching back to October.
Oh and they also swept into the top six!
The Dark Blues made three changes to the side that started the draw against Kilmarnock.
Central defenders Kevin Gomis and Kosta Gadzhalov had failed to recover from injury, while Tom Hateley dropped down to the bench.
Into the team came Julen Etxabeguren, James Vincent and Craig Wighton, who looked lively when he came on against Killie.
The visitors also made three changes, with Rob Kiernan, Lee Hodson and Joe Garner coming in for Philippe Senderos, Lee Wallace and Jason Holt.
Dundee started with bang, attacking the Gers right from Vincent’s kick-off.
The ball reached Wighton on the left and he ran on before sending over a cross that O’Hara headed not too far wide of the post.
A Martyn Waghorn strike at the other end was deflected over as the Light Blues tried to edge ahead but it was to be first blood to the Dark Blues in the 13th minute.
It was a lovely sweeping move, again up the left, with Henrik Ojamaa sprinting up the wing before cutting the ball back across the box.
Waiting to pounce was O’Hara, who drilled a left-foot strike in off the right-hand post from 15 yards to get the home supporters celebrating.
Dundee were playing well and getting at the opposition when they could, with a Holt corner and a Marcus Haber cross both troubling keeper Wes Foderingham.
The visitors were forced into a change on the half-hour, when defender Clint Hill hobbled off injured and was replaced by Danny Wilson.
Two minutes later, Ojamaa fired wide for the Dens men from the edge of the box before the Ibrox men swept upfield and Garner’s header was about a foot wide of the post.
The Dundee fans were feeling ‘Glad all over’ on 41 minutes when their team stunned Rangers by going 2-0 up.
O’Hara did brilliantly to ride a tackle or two before being tripped just outside the corner of the box.
Holt lined up the freekick and curled his shot left-footed right through the group of bodies and into the bottom left-hand corner of the Light Blues’ net.
It was a wonderful effort from Holt and thoroughly deserved.
The hosts saw out the first half pretty comfortably and they knew Rangers would come at them after the break.
The threat came from 30 yards out, with Jason Tavernier firing in a freekick that Dundee goalie Scott Bain had to tip over.
The result corner was then blasted wide by Andrew Halliday.
Rangers were knocking at the door and they prised it open on 61 minutes.
It was great play from Garner, who cut in from the left before unleashing a shot from the edge of the area that bamboozled Bain and flew into the bottom right-hand corner of his goal.
The visitors now had their tails up and Kenny Miller saw his shot take a deflection before striking the post.
The Dens men then had a credible claim for a penalty when Rangers sub Wilson challenged O’Hara but referee Craig Thomson wasn’t having it.
Rangers made a double switch on 77 minutes, bringing on Jason Holt and Harry Forrester for Barrie McKay and Halliday, while Dundee brought on Danny Williams for Ojamaa.
Forrester would have been an instant hero for Rangers had be not blazed over the bar from close range with 10 minutes to go.
Wighton had a chance to make the match safe for the hosts on 84 minutes when he burst clear on goal but keeper Foderingham managed to block.
That didn’t matter a jot, though, as the final whistle eventually blew and Dundee had done it.
Attendance: 9,017.
Dundee: Bain, K. Holt, Vincent, O’Dea, O’Hara, Etxabeguren, McGowan, Haber, Ojamaa (Williams 81), Kerr, Wighton. Subs not used: Gourlay, Hateley, Ross, El Bakhtaoui, Gadzhalov, Gomis.
Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, Hill (Wilson 30), Kiernan, Garner, Miller, McKay (Forrester 77), Halliday (J. Holt 77), Hodson, Hyndman, Waghorn. Subs not used: Alnwick, Dodoo, O’Halloran, Houston.
Referee: Craig Thomson.
