Dundee extended their unbeaten league run to 19 games with a comprehensive victory over Cowdenbeath at Central Park.
The result equals the club’s longest sequence of league results without defeat but more importantly, it increases their lead over bottom club Stirling Albion to 13 points.
Dundee went ahead thanks to a Sean Higgins goal in the first half and extended their advantage in the second through a Matt Lockwood penalty. Greg Stewart then gave the home fans a glimmer of hope, but Craig Forsyth put the game to bed with a headed goal shortly before the end.
A delighted Dees boss Barry Smith said, “That was a great three points for us-however, I won’t be looking up the table at all. I will not even think about that until we are guaranteed to be safe.
“We are on a great run, but that will not mean anything unless we stay up.”
His counterpart Jimmy Nicholl said, “We conceded soft goals and shot ourselves in the foot. We recovered from the first goal and started playing some good football, but conceding that early goal in the second half did us in.
“Overall, I thought we would get something from the game, but Dundee are on an incredible run we will just have to pick ourselves up for Saturday against Ross County.”
Nicholl made two changes from the side that staged the fightback at Stirling on Saturday when they came from three goals down with 13 minutes remaining to win 4-3, with Scott Linton and Stewart replacing the injured Joe Mbu and Lewis Coult who dropped to the bench.
Smith made two alterations from the team that drew at Firhill at the weekend, with Kyle Benedictus replacing the suspended Craig McKeown and trialist Graham Bayne being handed a start at the expense of Jonathan Stewart.
Bayne came agonisingly close to making it a dream start for Dundee when he almost connected with a cross from the left by Forsyth in the third minute. Cowdenbeath had a chance of their own seven minutes later when former Dundee midfielder Colin Cameron hit a speculative 30-yard shot that caused Rab Douglas a few anxious moments as it swerved in the strong breeze.
Dundee had an even better opportunity shortly after, when Gary Harkins won possession in midfield and threaded a ball through to Nicky Riley. The winger hit a delicate lob that beat Cowden goalie David Hay but it sailed just over the crossbar.
The breakthrough came in the 23rd minute when Forsyth embarked on a dangerous run down the left towards the byeline before hitting a great cross that Higgins steered home from point-blank range, his sixth goal in seven games.
The striker could have added to that tally five minutes later when he latched on to a long up-and-under from the back, but he shot wide with just Hay to beat. Both sets of players were struggling to adapt to the windy conditions, although as the half progressed, Nicholl’s side began to assert itself more without securing the reward their play possibly deserved.
Indeed, just before the break, it was Dundee that edged closer to increasing their lead when Gary Irvine advanced from full-back and hit a ferocious angled drive from 25 yards that flew just over Hay’s bar.
The travelling supporters had barely taken their seats for the second half when Dundee increased their lead in the 47th minute. Cowdenbeath striker Stevie Crawford had been covering back in his own box, but his attempted tackle on Riley was adjudged a penalty by referee Brian Colvin. Lockwood stepped up to hit the spot-kick into the corner of the net.
The Blue Brazil pulled one back eight minutes later when the Dark Blues’ defence failed to clear a long Linton throw from the left. The unmarked Stewart fired home from eight yards past a helpless Douglas. Seconds after that, Higgins had another excellent opportunity when he found himself one-on-one with Hay after beating the offside trap however, the striker fired straight at the keeper.
Dundee were obviously stung by conceding, and Harkins and then Bayne came close within a matter of seconds to re-establishing their two-goal cushion but Hay saved well on both occasions. Harkins was the architect of the best move of the match when he beat two Cowdenbeath players in his own half before embarking on a surging run downfield.
He played a pass to Bayne on the right, and the striker hit a perfect cross back to his skipper although Harkins’ header flew just past Hay’s left post. The Dundee captain then wasted a fantastic opportunity to put the game beyond Cowdenbeath when he led another break-out from the Dark Blues half.
With Forsyth standing unmarked in front of the home goal, Harkins decided to try his luck himself, but Hay dived acrobatically to his right to pull off a brilliant stop.
As the game entered its closing stages, Dundee became pegged back in their own half and were struggling to clear their lines but Cowdenbeath just could not fashion a clear-cut chance to find an equaliser.
They paid the price when another Dundee break in the 85th minute found sub Stewart unmarked on the right. He played a delightful cross into the Cowdenbeath box, which Forsyth bulleted home with his head.
Attendance: 977
Cowdenbeath: Hay, Baxter, Adamson, Malcolm, Armstrong, Ramsay, Campbell, Cameron, Crawford (McKenzie 76), Stewart, Linton. Subs not used-Dempster, Winter, Roy.
Dundee: Douglas, Irvine, Lockwood, O’Donnell, Benedictus, Weston, Riley, Harkins, Bayne, Higgins (Stewart 74), Forsyth. Subs not used-Gibson, Rennie, Bartlett, Tulleth.
Referee: Brian Colvin.