Dundee and Livingston had to settle for a share of the spoils in their William Hill Premiership clash at Dens Park.

The home side stormed into a two-goal lead within five minutes of kick-off thanks to a Simon Murray double but the visitors hit back inside 20 minutes through Lewis Smith and Scott Pittman.

Neither side could find a winner in the second half and once the dust had settled, Dundee had moved up to ninth in the table with Livi still bottom.

The hosts kept faith with the same starting line-up that lost to Falkirk on Wednesday night.

Livi made three changes to the side that suffered a narrow defeat to Celtic in midweek with Cristian Montano, Ryan McGowan and Smith drafted in for Stevie May and Cammy Kerr, who dropped to the bench, and the injured Samson Lawal.

The Dark Blues opened the scoring in the third minute when Yan Dhanda swung a corner in from the left with the ball falling perfectly for skipper Murray, who fired home from close range – his first goal since September.

Just two minutes later, Murray was celebrating again when Cameron Congreve delivered a perfect cross from the right with the striker heading home to leave Livi stunned.

Congreve then tried to get in on the act himself, cutting in before unleashing a fierce shot but it flew straight at keeper Jerome Prior who easily gathered.

Instead, it was Livi who scored next in the 15th minute with Robbie Muirhead finding Smith inside the home box and the midfielder firing a low shot on the turn past home keeper Jon McCracken.

And the visitors drew level just four minutes later. McCracken took too long over a clearance with Muirhead blocking and the ball breaking to Pittman, who fired into the empty net.

As the half edged to a conclusion, Congreve had another opportunity but Prior made a superb block to keep out the winger’s shot.

Surprisingly, after that frantic first half, the second 45 took some time to get going with chances notable by their absence.

Dundee did have a glimmer of an opportunity but Murray’s shot was easily blocked.

However, as the hour mark passed, neither keeper had been called into action with the home fans becoming increasingly restless and frustrated.

Dundee did come close to taking the lead in the 65th minute when substitute Scott Wright teed up Ethan Hamilton on the edge of the Livi box but the midfielder’s shot flew just inches wide.

The visitors had a strike of their own shortly after but May’s effort was wide of the target.

Livi goalscorer Smith then tried his luck from long range but his dipping strike flew just over McCracken’s bar.

Deep in stoppage time, the impressive Congreve drove into the Livi box with Prior initially fumbling his shot but the keeper recovered to ensure the game ended all square.