Queen of the South 1-0 Dundee

Apr 20 2008 Michael Baillie At Palmerston

DUNDEE'S faint promotion hopes were finally killed off after they crashed to a narrow defeat that ended their SPL dream for another year.

The travelling support had a banner that read "We Believe" but even if Alex Rae's side clinched all three points against Queens they still needed a helping hand from Clyde to have any chance of promotion.

But neither side managed to keep their end of the bargain with Brian Gilmour's first-half strike enough to separate the sides in a scrappy clash.

It meant there would be no winner-takes-all showdown on the final day at Dens Park.

With Hamilton cruising to a win over Clyde, events here were academic but Dundee were unable to muster amatch winning performance when they needed it. The same can't be said of Queens with each of Gordon Chisholm's squad staking a claim for a spot at Hampden.

While there was still the slimmest chance Dundee wouldn't give up, they had to win at a ground where they'd suffered two defeats this season.

Queen of the South and the whole of Dumfries were still on a high from their stunning Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen last weekend.

And with confidence flowing through their ranks they pinned the visitors back in the opening exchanges and thought they'd opened the scoring after six minutes.

Sean O'Connor outmuscled Eddie Malone as they jostled for a long ball and then slotted beyond Craig Samson.

But his celebrations were cut short as he was adjudged to have fouled the Dundee defender.

Scott Robertson was unlucky with a crisp drive from 20-yards which looked destined for the top corner only to be deflected over by Malone.

From Robert Harris's corner Jim Thomson glanced a header past Samson but it was cleared off the line by David Cowan.

As news filtered through about results elsewhere it was clear that Dundee's chances of promotion were fading quickly.

And the Dee were soon in need of a miracle when the Doonhammers took a deserved lead three minutes before the break.

Harris sent in a testing corner for O'Connor only for the ball to drop to the unmarked Gilmour who lashed it into the roof of the net from six yards.

Rae introduced striker Derek Lyle for the ineffective Freddie Daquin at the start of the second half but it was Queens who continued to push on.

Robertson unleashed a shot which just cleared the crossbar two minutes after the break.

You'd have thought Queens were the ones still in contention for the title as Thomson tested Samson with a powerful header.

The Dark Blues should have drawn level after 55 minutes when Mickael Antoine-Curier broke behind the defence to go clean through.

But the Frenchman opted to roll the ball across to the unmarked Colin McMenamin who scuffed his shot straight into the arms of Craig Reid.

It was a frustrating afternoon for Dundee but a result no more than they deserved in a stuttering display.

MoM: O'Connor (Queens)