1 - Dundee 4-2 Arbroath – August 12, 2022
After starting their cinch Championship campaign with a home defeat to Partick Thistle, Dundee returned to Dens Park for a live televised Friday night fixture against last season’s surprise title challengers Arbroath.
Luke McCowan and Zak Rudden found the net either side of a Nicky Low penalty before Colin Hamilton turned the ball home in the 81st minute to level the scores in a topsy-turvy contest.
Gary Bowyer turned to his bench and introduced Zach Robinson and with two minutes remaining, the forward headed in from Luke McCowan’s cross to restore Dundee’s lead.
Josh Mulligan put some gloss on the scoreline with a nicely taken goal in the final minute but the thrilling and frantic nature of this display would become a hallmark of the title chase.
2 - Dundee 2-1 Ayr United – October 15, 2022
Ayr arrived at Dens Park having made a strong start to the campaign while Dundee came into this clash having lost to Inverness CT and Cove Rangers as well as a draw with Arbroath.
This contest will be largely remembered for Paul McMullan’s stunning strike after 38 minutes. The midfielder drove forward and with little back lift, fired the ball into the top corner from 30 yards to leave Charlie Albinson helpless.
Zach Robinson doubled Dundee’s advantage before Josh Mullin’s reply made things nervy in the closing stages.
It would prove to be the start of a crucial period.
3 - Queen’s Park 2-2 Dundee – October 28, 2022
Matches between these two were never dull at Ochilview but little did we know the drama which would unfold later in the season.
Dundee were sitting outside the play-off spots following a goalless draw with Greenock Morton last time out and they trailed 1-0 at the break in this encounter.
Paul McMullan’s 52nd-minute equaliser from a free-kick was undone within seconds as Tommy Robson regained the advantage for the hosts.
On what was his second appearance for the club, Derick Osei had replaced Zach Robinson after 34 minutes of this contest. In what proved to be his only goal for the Dee, he pounced to score three minutes from time with the home players claiming for offside with Dom Thomas receiving a second yellow card for dissent.
4 - Partick Thistle 2-3 Dundee – November 5, 2022
After the excitement of their recovery against Queen’s Park, Dundee produced a more dramatic comeback eight days later at Firhill.
Partick Thistle had lost their previous four matches but a first-half double from Harry Milne prompted Dundee boss Gary Bowyer to make a triple substitution at the interval with Zach Robinson, Max Anderson and Zak Rudden all introduced.
Robinson made his mark with a header to pull one back before Ryan Sweeney’s driven effort made it 2-2 on 68 minutes. Home defender Aaron Muirhead was sent off a minute later before Cammy Kerr’s 76th-minute goal caused bedlam among the travelling support.
Dundee would remain unbeaten in the league for the remainder of 2022.
5 - Inverness CT 0-1 Dundee – December 3, 2022
The Highland capital is a real test of any team’s title credentials.
Home wins and clean sheets over Raith Rovers and Hamilton had seen Dundee build on that Firhill comeback and enter the play-off places as they headed north.
Paul McMullan would prove to be the match winner once more, cutting in and curling a wonderful attempt past Cammy Mackay for his fifth goal of the season.
The result moved Dundee up to second in the table, just one point off leaders Ayr United.
6 - Dundee 3-0 Queen’s Park – January 28, 2023
After a strong run towards the end of 2022 which saw Dundee finish the calendar year top of the table, a home defeat to Arbroath and an away draw with Raith Rovers saw them slip back to third.
Queen’s Park had replaced the Dee as league leaders on January 2 following a 2-0 win over Partick Thistle and it was a position they held until April 1.
As this game hit the hour mark and the deadlock wasn’t broken, Bowyer looked to his bench for inspiration in the form of Ben Williamson and Alex Jakubiak, who was yet to get off the mark in the league at this point.
The move paid off six minutes after their introduction as Jakubiak drove down the left and saw his effort blocked by Calum Ferrie only for Williamson to lash a fierce shot in off the underside of the bar.
Jakubiak used his chest to provide the finishing touch to a McMullan cross to make it 2-0 five minutes later. Captain Ryan Sweeney scored a third seven minutes from the end to set the tone for the season’s run in.
7 - Dundee 3-1 Ayr United – March 21, 2023
With spring approaching both sides knew that slip ups could be very costly at this stage of the season.
A torrid February had seen Dundee lose to Greenock Morton and Partick Thistle and drop points in a 1-1 home draw with Inverness CT.
Just one point separated the teams heading into this one with both sides looking for a real confidence boost. Dundee had drawn 0-0 with Partick Thistle three days previously while Ayr were trying to recover from the anguish of missing out on a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, and a trip to Hampden, following a 2-1 loss to cinch League 1 outfit Falkirk.
Ryan Sweeney gave Dundee a 13th-minute lead but cinch Championship Player of the Season Dipo Akinyemi quickly levelled matters four minutes later.
Alex Jakubiak was beginning to form a promising partnership with Zach Robinson in attack and it was Jakubiak who put the hosts ahead just before the hour mark. Luke McCowan made the game safe as he came back to haunt his old side with ten minutes to go.
The result moved Dundee four points clear of third-place Ayr and ensured they remained four points off leaders Queen’s Park.
8 - Dundee 7-0 Hamilton Accies – April 1, 2023
It became clear that the cinch Championship title race was going to be a straight shootout between Dundee and Queen’s Park as we moved towards the final five weeks of the season.
Owen Coyle’s Spiders had suffered a shock home loss to relegation-threatened Arbroath at Ochilview and followed that up with a 2-0 defeat against Raith Rovers in Kirkcaldy.
Dundee were in action against a Hamilton Accies side who arrived on Tayside still celebrating their SPFL Trust Trophy victory the weekend before.
Bowyer’s men were in a ruthless mood with a hat-trick from rising star Lyall Cameron adding to goals from Jakubiak, McCowan, Sweeney and Kwame Thomas.
The momentum of the title chase appeared to be shifting.
9 - Dundee 3-3 Greenock Morton – April 15, 2023
The title race was in Dundee’s hands as they prepared to welcome Morton to Dens Park.
After a run of three successive defeats, Queen’s Park had stopped the bleeding with a 1-0 win over Hamilton on April 14 to move level on points at the top.
Dundee don’t like to do things the easy way and found themselves 3-1 down to Dougie Imrie’s team after 65 minutes.
Kwame Thomas came off the bench to pull one back with 20 minutes remaining but it appeared as though Morton would hold on for the win as long as they could defend one final free kick in injury time.
The floated delivery wasn’t fully cleared, and the ball fell to Thomas, who turned the ball towards goal and into the net to a mixture of delight and relief around Dens.
Dundee had a single-point advantage with three games to go.
10 - Queen’s Park 3-5 Dundee – May 5, 2023
Top of the table last-day deciders simply don’t come any better than this cinch Championship showdown.
Dundee knew that avoiding defeat would be enough to seal the title and an immediate return to the cinch Premiership while Queen’s Park knew that only three points would be enough to gain automatic promotion.
An incredible opening 17 minutes saw the sides trade four goals with Jakubiak’s opener followed by a stunner from Charlie Fox and a Connor Shields effort before Lee Ashcroft brought Dundee back on level terms.
Zach Robinson bundled the visitors back into the lead with Fox bagging his second of the night with the final action of a fantastic 45 minutes of action.
With the whole season in the balance for both teams, Dundee’s 1,000 strong travelling support could dream once more as Lyall Cameron fired home in the 54th-minute.
Queen’s Park had to go for it, giving up space in search for the two goals that they needed to turn things around. Instead, Dundee exploited the gaps with McCowan curling home a fine strike on 81 minutes to ensure that it was mission accomplished for the Dark Blues.
After one of the most epic cinch Championship title races of all time, Dundee were heading back to Scotland’s top flight.
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