Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley was frustrated with how his side slipped up defensively to ship three goals against Dundee.
The visitors had held the Dark Blues at bay in a dogged first-half display. But they conceded twice in six minutes at the start of the second half, through Zach Robinson and Alex Jakubiak, before Lyall Cameron added another late on to make sure the home side claimed three Championship points.
Cove offered little in attack either, making it a difficult day for Hartley on his return to his former club.
“We did a good job in the first 45 minutes,” said the Cove manager. “It was the gameplan to come and frustrate them, because I know how the crowd here can react if they’re not playing fluent football.
“Shooting down the hill, I knew we’d have a chance, but two goals in five minutes kills you. They’ve got good players they can bring on – they’ve got some good quality.
“The mentality sometimes has to shift. Going a goal down, we’re still in the game, but we’ve got to pick ourselves up again.”
Cove must nab as many points as possible
The result leaves Cove eighth in the table, four points ahead of Arbroath, who occupy the Championship’s relegation play-off spot.
Hartley said: “For us, it’s about getting as many points as we can. Coming here was never going to be easy.
“We knew with the away games we had we had to make it tough for Dundee, and we did that for 45 minutes. But the game lasts 90 minutes.”
Hartley was reluctant to blame the surface at Dens either, which did not appear to suit either side.
Cove now face a pivotal game at the foot of the Championship next week as Arbroath make the journey north.
“We’ve got a big game next week against Arbroath,” added Hartley. “Between now and the end of the season it’s all about points, forget how pretty it’s going to be.
“The pitch wasn’t great last week either, so you can’t blame that either. We had a gameplan and, for 45 minutes, it worked.”
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