Dundee Utd1–1Motherwell

Moans and groans were the order of the day from the visiting support both pre-kick-off and throughout an opening 45 minutes. That followed Friday's departure of Scotland starlet Phil O'Donnell to Celtic in a £1,75 million transfer move. And those complaints were maintained by a disgruntled following for as long as United's quick off-the-blocks burst was maintained.

Dragutin Ristić capped United's early dominance with a fifth-minute strike. Disappointingly, for the home side's fans United appeared to think that their job was finished. And, as they allowed that dominance to slip, Motherwell were only too keen to take advantage of anything on offer.

Then came McLeish's interval pep-talk, he managed to turn matters completely around. The Fir Parkers were a completely different outfit during the second period, even before Steve Kirk managed to level matters. But, if United were disturbed at the loss of that goal, worse was to come for the Taysiders two minutes later when Billy McKinlay completed his second rash act of the afternoon on Dougie Arnott — and was promptly red-carded.

From then on, 10-man United struggled to keep their heads above water in the face of a tide of Motherwell attacks. Apart from McKinlay's ordering-off, four players were booked — home men Brian Welsh and Jim Mclnally, along with visitors Arnott and Brian Martin.