Ristic has Dundee up and running

4 Oct 1993

DUNDEE fans celebrated their favourites' first premier league win of the campaign against Hearts at Dens Park.

And it was free agent Dragutin Ristic who produced a contribution rich in potential in his final outing of a month-long trial period on Tayside.

The 29-year-old striker, who arrived a Dens Park after a spell in the Italian fourth division, really kept the best to last, which turned out to be a bonus for an audience of just over 5000.

The remainder of the weekend was spent trying to complete negotiations concerning an extended stay for Ristic at Dundee.

Talks between club officials, the player, and his agent got underway right after the game, spread into yesterday, and looked certain to spill into today, as manager Jim Duffy strives to strengthen his top-team squad with a player with a clear eye for goal.

His contribution on Saturday, a 24-carat classic, combined with Gary Paterson's opener after 21 minutes to floor the challenge of an almost-always disappointing Hearts.

Having dispossessed a strangely lethargic Alan McLaren almost in the centre circle, Ristic sized up the situation in a flash, before producing one of the best finishes of this or any other season.

Spotting comeback keeper Nicky Walker off his line, the Croatian advanced to within 40 yards of the target, before firing the perfect strike over the keeper and under the bar.

After that, there was no way back for Hearts, although to be fair they did manage to force home keeper Paul Mathers into a couple of moments of magic to keep out net-bound efforts from Scott Leitch.

Overall though, the afternoon was one of intense disappointment for Sandy Clark.

Mind you, the Hearts manager refused to divert any of the blame on to his club's UEFA Cup exertions in Madrid last mid-week.

He elected instead to state the obvious: "We lost two bad goals, and were second best far too often."

Clark now must hoist morale in time for tomorrow's difficult trip north to face Aberdeen on league duty, while Dundee's Jim Duffy surely needs only to state "same again" to his troops for an assurance of another entertaining 90 minutes as Partick Thistle head for Dens Park tomorrow.

Duffy was offered further delight from Saturday's event in the performance of his latest signing, Polish international midfielder Piotr Czaczowski.

The newcomer celebrated his home debut with a fluent, efficient, and at times brilliant performance to delight the home support.

Taken from the Herald