Kieron Bowie provides tonic to Hibs discontent before summer target who turned them down inflicts despair

He clenched his fist as the Dundee fans surged to the front. It felt like a winning goal. Dundee manager Tony Docherty later complained that it ought to been a win for his side, whose last victory here was 23 years ago. It could have been worse had Hibs substitute Josh Campbell’s effort not struck the bar in the final moments.

On deeper reflection, he concluded he was satisfied with the point, which extends Dundee’s unbeaten start to the season to eight games. 

As for David Gray, he might wonder where Hibs’ first league win of the season is coming from. It was so nearly here until Murray had his say. “He was a constant threat – it was nothing we didn’t expect from him,” Gray said afterwards.

Murray could have been playing for the home team. Gray is a big fan of his former teammate and made strenuous efforts to re-sign Murray in the summer. However, the striker chose to head to Dundee, his boyhood team. Family reasons also played a part.  

He had no qualms about expressing his delight when he latched onto a cute first-touch ball behind the Hibs defence from the unlikely source of Mexican centre half Antonio Portales.

All eyes were on Luke McCowan, the subject of two recent transfer bids from Hibs. But Murray earned the headlines on his latest return to Easter Road, as some had suspected might happen.

McCowan did play a part in the late goal. It was his first-time pass to Portales that stretched Hibs although they still had every chance to clear the danger. However, centre-half Warren O’Hora made the basic mistake of allowing the industrious Murray to run in behind and the striker tucked the ball beyond Josef Bursik in front of the delirious away support.

Several Hibs players slumped to their knees. The home team had looked set to earn all three points on an afternoon when dissatisfaction had begun to rear its head in the stands. Despair was the ultimate emotion but credit to the home team for shutting out the jeers to overturn Dundee's lead.

Martin Boyle’s free-kick goal on the stroke of half-time put Hibs back on level terms. They had won a series of dangerous free kicks around the Dundee box and Boyle took over after Nicky Cadden was unable to inflict any serious damage with his efforts on goal. 

The winger has had a quiet start to the season but picked his spot with aplomb, although questions might be asked about the Dundee wall.

Docherty had stressed he had “no issues” playing McCowan. As well as playing, the in-demand midfielder also wore the skipper's armband. While it was one of his quieter games he still hit the post with a free-kick and then contributed to the equaliser. It was notable that he became a more central figure after Dundee went behind with 18 minutes left. “That’s what he does, he grabs the game,” said Docherty later.

Kieron Bowie slipped into the action as a second-half substitute and made his presence felt almost immediately. Docherty grumbled about how easy his defence made it for him, but the forward is turning wriggling free of defenders near the byline into an artform. He did so in the recent defeat against Celtic at Easter Road, hitting the bar from the narrowest of angle. He did so again here and reaped full reward when he managed to thrash a shot past Jon McCracken.  

The Under-21 Scotland internationalist is proving a decent acquisition after signing from Fulham for £600,000. Dundee ended up chasing a game they had controlled for large periods. They looked set to pay the price for not pressing home their advantage in the first half. The visitors took the lead after just nine minutes after Hibs failed to clear their lines and Cameron was able to play in Scott Tiffoney, who made no mistake.

Dundee then seemed content to frustrate an edgy home crowd although they might have been better served going for the throat in this period. Discontent was growing in the stands. Even the simple matter of transferring the ball from their own box had become a fraught performance for Hibs.

Their fans demanded more speed. The longer Bursik dallied, the louder the whistling grew. This reached a crescendo on one occasion when the ‘keeper kicked the ball straight out of play.

Dundee did have the ball in the net a second time after Cameron’s deflected effort wrong-footed Bursik. But it was ruled out after Murray’s earlier shot had struck Sebastian Palmer-Houlden, who was marginally offside. They did get their second goal, just far later than intended.