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Our next ‘Dundee Programme from The Past’ may not have ended in a happy manner for Dundee but seeing as how I've never laid my eyes on the programme until recently, I thought It would be something that would interest our readers. Now there isn't much to the programme itself, it's pages are filled with 'Player Profiles' but it's still worth publishing. Also, Keep a keen eye out for the choice of Dundee player they pick in our squad page! We take you back to 23rd June 2001 when Dundee took on FK Sartid at the Gradski Stadium in the Intertoto Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg. The first leg had seen just 6,511 fans attend Dens Park with the game ending 0-0. It was filled with controversy as the Sartid players time wasted for most of the match. Many of them were stretchered off only to spring back into life when they were off the field in a tactic that left Dundee players, management and fans frustrated. The second leg would also be filled with controversy that had then manager Ivano Bonetti seething at the end of the match. Just eight Dundee fans made the trip to Serbia after the Foreign Office advised supporters not to travel who were taking into account the NATO air-strikes on Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict back in 1999. 7,500 fans packed the stadium with both teams knowing a win for either would hand them a tie against Munich 1860 in the next round. Fabian Caballero put Dundee ahead after four minutes but Bulgarian referee Marinov Svetlozar would award Sartid two very soft penalties in a three-minute spell which were converted by Vladimir Mudrinić. Marcello Marrocco dithered on the edge of the penalty box and was easily disposed of by Sasa Antunovic who then went down easily when Jamie Langfield committed himself, earning the keeper a yellow card. The next penalty was given when the referee adjust Chris Coyne had handled the ball in the box but that was a highly dubious decision. Then with around seven-minutes to before half time, Sartid added a third courtesy of a Srdan Aleksic header. Dundee did find a way back into the match in the second half when Caballero beautifully set up Juan Sara at the back post to nod home Dundee’s second. Unfortunately, any notion of a comeback was killed by the inept referee when Caballero was given a straight red card despite many believing the striker was the actual one being fouled. That was it for Dundee and the home team would add two more goals from Demir Ramovic and Ivan Krizmanic to give them a 5-2 victory and a place in the second round. Chris Coyne told the The Scottish Daily Mail that: “The Sartid boy lashed the ball straight at me and when it hit my arm, I just knew the ref would give a penalty. We were getting so frustrated, working our socks off for absolute nothing and most of the bookings were for talking to the referee.” Ivano Bonetti said after the match: “I have never seen refereeing like that in my life. If I had known before the competition started that we would be faced with referees like that, then we would not have entered the tournament. “The standard of officiating was a joke. We have worked hard and wanted an honest match today. But, with a referee like that, in my opinion, you can't have that. “We will make a report which will go to UEFA - I saw things before the match and at half-time. Because of what I saw, I was not confident that we could win this game even before it started, and I told my colleagues Dario Magri and Jim Thomson how I felt at the time.” The Italian then added: 'I want to be sure before I say anything more in public. “I have not seen the UEFA observer - I don't even know what he looks like. Not even when I was a child have I seen refereeing like that - it makes me sick. “Caballero was sent off when he thought it would be a free kick for us. The second penalty he awarded against us was also laughable. “It seems to me like there was one measure for Dundee and one measure for Sartid. I also thought it was a little strange that the fourth official - Zoran Fipcic - was Yugoslavian. “We have lost all this time coming here and preparing for this game for nothing. Instead of encouraging clubs to enter this competition, referees like that will discourage teams. Caballero was crying his eyes out in the dressing room.” Bonetti also decided to call time on his Dens Park playing career and would only put his boots back on in an emergency. “I think I'm more or less finished with playing. I want to dedicate all my time to just being a manager. “It's difficult to do both jobs because you need so much time to train properly to ensure you are in the right physical condition. “It's also hard enough to think about tactics when you are just sitting on the bench. But when you are playing you just don't have an opportunity to do that.” The teams that day were: FK Sartid: Lukic, Mrdak, Antunovic, Glogovac, Vaskovic, Mirosavljevic, Mudrinic, Aleksic, Bogdanovic, Radosavljevic, Socanac Dundee: Langfield, Smith, Coyne, Wilkie, Garrido, Marrocco, Artero, Rae, Romano, Caballero, Sara Attendance: 7,500

Our next ‘Dundee Programme from The Past’ may not have ended in a happy manner for Dundee but seeing as how I've never laid my eyes on the programme until recently, I thought It would be something that would interest our readers. View full news article