Dundee secure return to the Premiership after win over Queen's Park
They clinched a 5-3 victory
Dundee secured their return to the cinch Premiership with a 5-3 win over nearest challengers Queen's Park in a breathless Championship decider at Ochilview.
A point would have been enough for the Dens Park side to claim automatic promotion but they ended their campaign on a high as second-half strikes from Lyall Cameron and Luke McCowan killed off the challenge of the brave Spiders following an astonishing first half in which six goals were shared.
Both sides went into the much-hyped showdown in unconvincing form, with Queen's - aiming to get back into the top flight for the first time since 1958 - having lost four of their previous six matches and Dundee on a run of one win in five.
Any notion that a lack of confidence within both sides allied to the pressure of the occasion might lead to a cagey affair was emphatically banished by an incredible start that brought four goals within the opening 17 minutes.
Dundee Manager Gary Bowyer said of his players: “I can’t speak highly enough of them.
“They had a mindset when they arrived of obviously getting relegated.
“The clubs got to try and go forward now and stop being a yo-yo club and try and get established in the premiership.”
Queen’s Charlie Fox and Connor Shields gave the home team a difficult run in the first half, securing 3 goals. However, it was Dundee who took control of the title race in the 54th minute when Cameron kept his cool to tuck home a low shot from 15 yards.
And again in the 81st minute when McCowan curled in a shot from just outside the box to consign Queen's to the play-offs.
Queen's Park, having at one point looked like going up, finish third and will face Partick Thistle at Firhill on Tuesday.