Dundee were crowned the unofficial champions of Britain after beating England’s number one side Manchester City.
OK, maybe that is taking things a bit far but this was still an eye-catching and hugely encouraging result for Paul Hartley’s men.
Pre-season is primarily a time for getting fit, not hitting form, but the Dens men not only defeated Manuel Pellegrini’s bunch of multi-millionaires but they did so quite comfortably.
There were a number of fine performances, not least from German trialists Thomas Konrad and Luka Tankulic, while former Crystal Palace winger Kieron Cadogan didn’t do too badly either.
Konrad slotted in at centre-back, while Tankulic started up front. The former was the best player on the park, while the latter earned the sponsors’ man-of-the-match award.
Tankulic even grabbed a goal on the 38th minute, adding to an earlier counter from Gary Harkins.
Elsewhere, there was a clean sheet for new goalkeeper Grant Adam, facing such a big test after signing just last Friday.
However, the first stars on show were three pieces of silverware displayed in the centre circle. City brought along their Barclays Premier League trophy, Dundee had their own Scottish Championship trophy, while golf’s Ryder Cup was the last but certainly not least on display.
After a tentative opening quarter, the game came to life when the hosts took the lead on 27 minutes. A nice dink forward by Gary Irvine made its way towards Harkins.
The midfielder moved to collect the pass but was bundled in the back by City’s Belgian defender Dedryck Boyata. Referee Bobby Madden pointed to the penalty spot and Harkins picked himself up to take the kick.
His initial attempt was saved by keeper Willy Caballero but the ball spun back to him and the midfielder’s second shot made it into the net off the goalie’s body.
The best the rather flat English champions could offer was a shot into the side-netting on 35 minutes from Stevan Jovetic that didn’t appear to worry Adam.
With City looking rather pedestrian, the Dens men took advantage and made it 2-0 on 38 minutes.
After Harkins delivered the ball over from the right, it made its way to Tankulic, whose deflected shot somehow found a route past Caballero and into the Man City net.
Dundee brought on three subs at the break, with Paul McGinn, Iain Davidson and Phil Roberts replacing Irvine, Kevin Thomson and Jim McAlister. City made nine changes, with only Caballero and Emyr Huws the survivors.
The new version of the visitors seemed to have more of a spring in their step but they were still finding it hard to get past the impressive Konrad at the heart of the Dundee defence.
It was then the hosts’ turn to introduce a flurry of fresh faces, with Kyle Benedictus, Nicky Riley, Peter MacDonald, Greg Stewart and Martin Boyle coming on for Harkins, McPake, Kevin McBride, Cadogan and Tankulic.
The Dark Blues had a great chance to make it three when a great ball forward from Roberts sent fellow sub MacDonald free. Peaso did well to get a foot on the ball but his chip fell just the wrong side of the post.
Samir Nasri, one of the big names who missed out on the World Cup, threatened for the English side on 77 minutes but his curling shot was plucked out of the air by Adam.
The goalie then did well again to push a shot from Alvaro Negredo past the far post as the visitors tried to get back into the contest.
Up at the other end, MacDonald almost grabbed Dundee’s third goal with a neat flick but, despite some pressing from the visitors, there was no further scoring.