Early day trippers to Dens Park noted a couple of strange happenings. First the 'Well team arrived in a Parks' coach - I thought that Wilson's were the official supplier- and second that at a quarter past two one Claudio Caniggia started a gentle warm up in front of a couple of dozen fans.
The festive bubble at Dens was burst by a smashing performance from Stuart Elliott and everyone in the Claret and Amber team. In a game where all the pre-match hype focused on the Dundee foreign contingent it speaks volumes for the spirit of the team to come away with three points.
We got off to the fairytale start all coaches seek. Barely half a minute gone and a high through ball was punted over the Dundee defence. Spencer was in an offside position and raised his hands while McCulloch rushed through the square line of Dundee backs and forced a challenge on the right hand side of the box. He collected the ball on the line and passed it back to Adams who floated a back post cross to Stuart Elliott who headed accurately past Langfield into the net. The usual handspring followed and the large home support was silenced. It was pleasing to cut through the atmosphere of expectation which had built up ahead of the appearance of the Argentinian.
It got even better in five minutes when another cross from Adams found Elliott unmarked just fifteen yards out. He made no mistake and headed his second.
As expected the Dark Blues started to throw everything forward in an attempt to reverse the flow of the game. But we had a chance before they scored. In ten minutes Spencer found himself with a clear shot available from the edge of the box, however he failed to hit the target.
In twenty minutes they got one back. Oueifio dived in to a tackle and the ball broke to Caniggia. From around twenty yards he floated a glorious chip over the head of the stranded Woods. The home support woke up and for the first time gave their team some vocal support.
Elliott paid for his early sparkle. He was off the park three times for treatment in the first half - once for an off the ball stamp on the foot.
McMillan had a great run from the halfway line to the goal line, beating half the opposition on the way. While the cheerleaders warmed up Spencer had another chance, a quick turn in the box and a shot just past the post.
The second half started with a charge from Dundee, Caniggia almost converting a header from a free kick.
Elliott would have got his hat trick in fifty minutes had he directed a first time cross from Spencer on target.
We were starting to defend too deep and coming under more and more pressure. Several times it looked like they would get the equaliser but we kept digging in and made a few chances. Probably the best in the second half was with around twenty minutes to go when Spencer (who had run tirelessly all game) was tumbled in the box, it looked like a clear penalty(their goalie confirmed this after the match) but the referee turned away. The ball bobbled around the area until Goodman found it at his feet around ten yards out. It got tied up under his legs and the chance was gone.
We took several bookings as the defensive tackles became more and more desperate - Brannan, McMillan, Strong and McCulloch saw yellow.
The clock ran down and despite a few close calls at the end we got the three points.
The whole bench and the five hundred or so travelling 'Well fans rose as one at the final whistle. A great win and one we didn't expect - it sets us up with the chance of a hat trick of wins if we can do Celtic at Fir Park next week.
Afterwards Stevie Woods (who made two brilliant saves from powerful shots) talked about the enthusiasm in the squad and the need to keep the good run going. He suggested that our early season position was not a true reflection of the teams play.
Billy was delighted. The attitude and commitment shown was excellent. He was disappointed that the assistant manager didn't shake hands at the end. He also suggested that with Twaddle on one wing and Elliott on the other that we still have more to show.
Team: Woods, Corrigan, Strong, Oueifio, Hammell, McMillan, Brannan, Adams (S 56 Townsley), Elliott, Spencer(S84 Nicholas),McCulloch(S 60 Goodman)
Subs Unused: Connolly, Davies
Dundee 1 Motherwell 2
Attendance 7,433
21 October 2000