Dundee boss Barry Smith was more disappointed by his team’s display than the controversial decision that gave Ross County the first of their two goals at Dens Park last night.
With 81 minutes on the clock, Paul Lawson let fly with a shot that struck the Dark Blues’ bar, came down and then bounced outwards.
A goal was given when it didn’t seem clear that it had crossed the line and Gary Glen added an injury-time second goal.
But the disputed strike wasn’t really what irked Smith when he reflected on a 2-0 defeat that leaves them a massive 18 points behind their opponents. Rather, it was the team’s overall performance that got him down.
“I haven’t seen it again so I won’t comment on the goal,” said Smith. “If it’s in, fine, it’s a goal. But I would rather not say any more until I have seen it myself.
“To be honest, we never really spoke about it with the players. What we spoke about was how they got that far up the park for him to have a shot.
“That’s what disappoints me. Whether the goal was in or not, we switched off.
“When it comes down to it, it is me who puts the team out. I will hold my hands up and say I don’t think we performed tonight it’s as simple as that.”
Smith added: “We have had good performances against Hibs and Kilmarnock then don’t do so well against Hearts. We then put in a great performance against Morton last week then tonight we didn’t perform.”
So is it game over for Dundee now that the Staggies have soared clear of them and they are 14 adrift of St Mirren with a game more played than the Buddies?
“I will not say it’s impossible,” Smith added. “Until it is mathematically impossible we will keep fighting and scratching. We will do everything we can to give ourselves any chance of staying up. It is, though, getting more difficult by the week.”
County gaffer Derek Adams had seen the video footage of Lawson’s goal and he was confident the right decision had been made by assistant referee Graham Chambers and ref John McKendrick.
“It was a fabulous strike and I have seen it on TV and it was in,” he said. “I thought by the angle of the shot and the way it hit the bar and moved that it was in at the time. Also, we managed to put it to bed by Gary Glen scoring the second.”
For more from Dens, including a full match report, see Saturday’s Courier or try our new digital edition.