Dundee 1 Kilmarnock 2
Kilmarnock kept their good run going with a 2-1 victory over Dundee at Dens Park.
Kilmarnock kept their good run going with a 2-1 victory over Dundee at Dens Park. Gary Locke's side secured their latest win thanks to goals in either half from Josh Magennis and Steven Smith before Rhys Healey pulled one back with his first goal for Paul Hartley's side towards the end. Killie took the lead inside 10 minutes and never really looked back after that. Kallum Higginbotham crossed for Magennis, who rose well to plant a header past helpless home goalkeeper Scott Bain and into the corner of the net. There was frustration among the hosts for their poor start and that was shown when, midway through the first half, Kevin Holt was booked for a late tackle on Kilmarnock's Mark O'Hara. Despite Dundee trying hard to make their mark, their opponents still carried more of an attacking threat and in the 31st minute they should have scored again, as Higginbotham's cross picked out Magennis who had peeled away from his marker at the far post. However,his attempted finish from 12 yards lacked both power and precision to allow Bain to block with his legs. That sparked Dundee into life and as half-time approached, on-loan Cardiff striker Healey went on a run into the Killie box, pulling the ball back for Kane Hemmings, only for visiting goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald to intercept and gather with a low clutch. The home fans expressed their dissatisfaction at the end of the first half, which had finished with Kilmarnock creating another clear-cut scoring opportunity, as Higginbotham's corner set up a free hit for Conrad Balatoni, but he skied his shot well over the bar. If Balatoni had had difficulty in finding the target, then he did not have to wait too long to be shown how it should be done. Just three minutes into the restart, and the Ayrshire side went further ahead in some style. This time, Rory McKenzie went on a weaving run to set up Smith and, as the Dundee defence backed off, they lived to regret their collective hesitation as the midfielder rifled an unstoppable 25-yard effort into the corner of the net. Dundee were floored by this, although Greg Stewart did attempt to lift them after the hour mark, but his final shot was weak to sum up their overall performance. Nick Ross did hit the side-netting for the hosts midway through the second half, before Healey gave them some hope with a looping header from Stewart's corner which went across MacDonald and into his far corner. Killie goalkeeper MacDonald had to produce a wonder stop in the 79th minute to deny Healey his second, parrying his header away for a corner, but in truth Kilmarnock were worthy winners all day long.