NO EURO JOY FOR RANGERS OLD BOY TOM COWAN OR DUNDEE

Dundee 1 (Wilkie 62) Perugia 2 (Di Loreto 49,
Margiotta 83)

Attendance 9,911

Former Ranger Tom Cowan returned to the European scene
with Dundee this evening - but there was no happy
return for either player or club at Dens Park tonight,
going down somewhat unluckily 1-2 to Italian side
Perugia.

Cowan may have played just fifteen games for the Light
Blues, but included in that total was a European
Champions Cup-tie in Munich as well as the 1991 League
Championship Decider with Aberdeen, a game in which
sadly he suffered a broken leg.

It had been all of 29 years since Dundee last played
in the UEFA Cup, when Belgian side Molenbeek were the
visitors. The Dens Park club of course qualified for
Europe courtesy of being losing Scottish Cup Finalists
last season.

Perugia's route had been more convoluted, via the
Intertoto Cup. Indeed if Dundee's absence from Europe
has been lengthy, that of the Serie A side was
scarcely shorter - their one previous season in a UEFA
competition being in 1979-80.

One Italian onlooker tonight was Fabrizio Ravanelli
who graced the Champions' League on many occasions,
but who was ineligible for tonight's tie.

The home side were impressive in the opening stages
with Steve Lovell just being crowded out following a
mazy Nacho Novo run in nine minutes, but it didn't
take Perugia long to find their bearings, Vryzas
testing Julian Speroni with a glancing header from
Grosso's cross four minutes later.

Dundee were giving as good as they received. Juan Sara
was inches away from connecting with a Hernandez cross
in 22 minutes, then on the half-hour the Argentinian
striker had a strong penalty claim denied when he went
down following a challenge from Di Loreto.

It was end-to-end action, but as the interval
approached Perugia stepped up the pace in an effort to
secure the opening goal. Diamoutene tested Speroni
with a thirty-yard drive in 36 minutes, but the save
of the night was produced by the Dens goalkeeper four
minutes later when he turned wide a stunning
twenty-yard angled drive from Ferreira.

Dundee resumed on the offensive - and Sara ought to
have done better than head over from an exquisite
Nemsadze free-kick two minutes into the second-half.

Scarcely had the 9,911 crowd drawn breathe from that
miss than they were applauding Speroni yet again when
he touched behind a Vryzas volley, but the South
American was merely delaying the inevitable, for from
the resultant corner (taken by Ferreira) Di Loreto
scooped the ball over Speroni's head at the second
attempt to put the visitors 1-0 up in 49 minutes.

The home side's response was quick - but yet again
their finishing let them down when Novo sliced wide
Gavin Rae's chip seven minutes later.

The equaliser was merely delayed however, a Nemsadze
corner in 62 minutes being met by Lee Wilkie whose
header was assisted by Nacho Novo distracting Kalac
almost on the line.

Dundee were worthy of at least a draw, but were
cruelly denied even that in 83 minutes when Margiotta
swept home a Vryzas pass.

The Dark Blues now face a monumental task in Italy in
three weeks time, but on this form they will certainly
prove a handful at Ibrox on Saturday.

DUNDEE Speroni; Mackay, Hernandez (Cowan 83); Smith,
Mair, Wilkie; Sara, Rae, Lovell (Brady 58), Nemsadze,
Novo (Fotheringham 83)
UNUSED SUBS Langfield, Sancho, Hutchinson, McDonald

PERUGIA Kalac; Ferreira, Diamoutene, Alioui, Di
Loreto; Tedesco, Grosso (Loumpoutis 68), Fusani,
Gatti; Vryzas (Do Prado 84), Margiotta (Berrettoni 90)
UNUSED SUBS Tardioli, Ignoffo, Turchi, Obodo

REFEREE Zeljko Siric (Croatia)