Dundee won an uninspiring match with a goal in either half by Steven Milne and Nacho Novo.

Milne put the home side ahead early on with a powerful shot past Killie keeper Colin Meldrum from 16 yards.

Killie dominated the rest of the first half but could not score and Dundee began to dominate as the second half wore on.

They made sure of the points with 10 minutes remaining when Novo superbly slotted home from 18 yards.

The home side took the lead with their first real attack on the visitors' goal after five minutes.

Milne exhanged passes with Nacho Novo and when the ball came back to him 16 yards out, he hammered a left-foot shot past the despairing Killie keeper Colin Meldrum.

In the 12th minute Killie defender James Fowler was booked for a foul on Novo 25 yards from goal and from the resultant free-kick, Garry Brady sent a shot inches wide.

Kilmarnock winger Stephen Murray began to get on the ball more for the visitors but even his inventiveness could not find a chink in the Dundee defence.

As the first half unfolded, Dundee were looking to the electric pace of Novo on the break as their main threat but the game in general had lost much of its impetus.

Killie should have had the equaliser in the 35th minute when Murray, growing in confidence by the minute, beat Dave Mackay on the left touchline and his perfectly floated cross found Kris Boyd unmarked only six yards out but somehow the striker headed past the post.

The visitors finished the half on top and a low drive by midfielder Rhian Dodds from 25 yards just before the break went wide of the post.

The opening stages of the second half were nothing to write home about but in the 58th minute, the home side could have doubled their lead when Novo set up Barry Smith, but the midfielder scooped a half-hearted shot over the bar from 16 yards out.

The best chance of the half so far involved the same two players.

Novo and Smith worked a lovely one-two at the edge of the box, leaving the Spaniard clean through on goal, but Meldrum was quickly out of his goal to brilliantly block the close-range shot.

There was little between the sides as the game entered its closing stages.

In the 80th minute however, the home side doubled their lead with a goal out of the blue.

A long, hopeful Smith pass from inside his own half allowed Novo to race away from Freddy Dindeleux before brilliantly slotting the ball across Meldrum and into the corner of the net from 18 yards

Kilmarnock: Meldrum, Fowler, Canning, Dindeleux, Hay, Invincibile, Skora, Dodds (Locke 45 mins), Murray, Boyd, McSwegan (McDonald 60 mins)

Subs: Smith, Dillon, Naysmith.

Attendance: 4,942