Scott Bain became the latest member of an elite band this week when he joined the “Tully Top Ten Club”.
The Dundee goalie’s flawless performance in the face of a Hibs onslaught in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Dens Park saw him awarded a perfect ten-out-of-ten in the player rankings that accompany our match report.
He is only the fourth player to be given top marks and, in doing so, he’s maintained this particular club’s “closed shop”.
That’s because his three predecessors were all also goalkeepers — Cammy Bell and Rado Czierniak of Dundee United and Dee legend Rab Douglas.
While that revelation will no doubt have a few outfield players who’ve played for the city clubs down the years grumbling — particularly any striker that’s bagged a hat-trick — it illustrates how important to any team a top-performing goalkeeper can be.
How exact that worth is can be hard to quantify but there can surely be little argument that a No 1 who has a top season can be worth at least as many points as a free-scoring attacker.
Bain’s performance at the weekend is perfect illustration. He was called on nine times to prevent shots hitting the back of his net and dealt with a fair proportion of the Hibees’ 15 corners.
At times he seemed to be a one-man barrier between them and a convincing away win that would have left Dundee rooted at the bottom of the league.
And while they are still looking for their first win after four top-flight outings, Bain’s effort may prove significant come the end of the campaign.
Last time the perfect ten was recorded was just under a year ago and surely in the most remarkable of circumstances yet.
It was the least Cammy Bell could be given when he pulled off the miraculous feat of saving three first-half penalties and Dundee United came back with three points from a Championship trip to Dunfermline.
It all happened inside the opening 32 minutes as he thwarted first Gavin Reilly, then Nicky Clark and finally Paul McMullan, who is of course now on United’s books.
While it’s an achievement that will never be forgotten by the Tangerines or anyone who was at East End Park that day, cruelly the people at Guinness Book of Records refused to record the feat on the grounds it was not achieved in a top-flight fixture.
There were penalties at both ends when big Rab Douglas earned his ten with an inspirational display as Barry Smith’s elevated Dark Blues finally broke their top-flight win duck in the 2012/13 campaign with a 1-0 win at Hearts.
After Ryan Conroy had provided an early lead from the spot, Douglas saved a John Sutton effort from 12 yards low at his right-hand post. He then proceeded to produce a string of other outstanding stops as his team fought a long rearguard action to secure a much-needed three points.
The only other perfect mark came in March 2015 when Pole Rado Cierzniak was the tangerine hero as his side held Celtic in a Scottish Cup quarter-final.
Cierzniak was at his agile best and kept a cool head as those round him lost theirs in a robust tie that saw two United men and one from the Hoops given their marching orders.
Early on Paul Paton and Virgil van Dijk saw red after an early tackle and not only did Paul Dixon follow them in the second period, it was for handball in his own box. That meant the goalie had to save a Leigh Griffiths’ penalty to prevent his nine-man team falling behind.
There were still over 40 minutes to go but, thanks largely to their shot-stopper’s impeccable form, United held on.
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