The answer to the ‘McBride question‘came at 2.30 when his name appeared on the team sheet in place of O’Donnell and we started the game with Foran and Clarkson up front.
The first fifteen minutes were played at a fairly pedestrian pace by both sides. There was little in the way of goalmouth action but there were signs that our eleven had settled better than our opponents. Maybe the upcoming relegation struggled is contributing to a nervousness at Tannadice.
The travelling fans burst into life in sixteen minutes when Jim Paterson fired in a medium paced shot from around twenty three yards. The ball stayed low and turned a wee bit in the air before landing at the keeper who was already in position to collect the effort but he fluffed the take and the ball spilled slowly over the line. A goal of a start was just what we needed.
We had a few half decent chances before the break first, McBride shot wide from the eighteen yard line then Clarkson set up a good chance by bursting clear from halfway. e squared to Foran who let fly with a fierce shot straight at the keeper. The ball then fell to Fitzpatrick but he missed the target. No doubt it will feature in the next collection of ‘Sporting Bloomers’.
Terry’s strategy for the rest of the game went out the window just as the half closed. Both Quinn and Wright made unscheduled appearances when first Clarkson then Leitch were helped from the pitch as the fourth official held up the board to add two minutes.
At the restart
United committed two substitutes and played with three up front. We did not sit back and the result was that the game swing from end to end. Paterson and Wright had their moments but it was Gordon Marshall who impressed.
The Auld Yin demonstrated yet again that his reactions are more than adequate when he produced a couple of saves to thwart first
With Livi to look forward to next week we must be looking for a top six finish.