Dundee began their Premiership campaign with a 1-1 draw against Kilmarnock at Dens this afternoon.
The home side started slickly but it was their big keeper Kyle Letheren who had to pull off a superb diving save in the 8th minute to palm away a close-range header from Josh Magennis.
The Dark Blues though still looked a class act and a multi-pass move ended with Gary Harkins bursting into the Killie box only to be upended by defender Mark Connolly with referee Steven McLean pointing to the spot.
Connolly was less than impressed but Harkins dusted himself down and calmly slotted the penalty, sending Craig Samson the wrong way to give Dundee a 17th minute lead.
Five minutes later, Dundee had a huge let off when Tope Obadeyi found himself in splendid isolation in the home penalty area and he lashed a shot from 12 yards off the underside of Letheren’s crossbar before the ball bounced away to safety.
There was no such luck for the home side though in the 24th minute. Harkins conceded a free-kick just outside the right corner of his own box and Craig Slater stepped up to send a curling free-kick into the far top corner of Letheren’s net.
Just seconds into the second half, Harkins embarked on a jinking run into the Killie box before hitting a shot that Samson dived to palm to safety.
The keeper was called into action again shortly after with an acrobatic save to his right from a Paul McGowan 20-yard effort.
Samson’s opposite number Letheren’s heart was in his mouth when he came rushing off his line to the edge of his box only to be beaten to the ball by Obadeyi but the Killie player’s weak effort on goal was cleared.
In the 83rd minute, Samson pulled off possibly his best save of the afternoon to keep out a low shot from Dark Blues sub Jim McAlister.
With the last kick of the game deep into injury time Peter MacDonald came agonisingly close to claiming all three points for the home side when he smacked a 20-yard free-kick off Samson’s crossbar.