Motherwell2–1Dundee Utd

A disastrous start for United saw them fall behind after 50 seconds. Severin misjudged an interception at the halfway line which allowed Alan Gow to break free. He linked with Nick Blackman before the ball was played into the path of Jamie Murphy on the left. His shot was parried by Dusan Pernis but the luckless Scott Severin then bundled the ball into his own net from a couple of yards out. The home side were to control the opening 30 minutes of this game and could have scored three or four in that period. On nine minutes, Paul Dixon made a crucial intervention as the ball was flashed across goal while a minute later the lively Humphrey on the right wing easily beat Garry Kenneth before squaring for Alan Gow whose shot went inches wide of the front post. Gow was again involved a couple of minutes later as his hard, curling shot stung the palms of Pernis. Motherwell’s momentum was lost for a short while as they lost Keith Lasley to injury after 20 minutes and seven minutes later, United finally fashioned a chance on goal. A one-two between Jon Daly and David Robertson allowed Daly an acrobatic effort from the middle of the box but the shot was well held by Randolph in the Motherwell goal. With the home side already forced into a substitution, United too had to make a change due to injury as Craig Conway hobbled off to be replaced by Barry Douglas. The game was far from dirty but referee Steven McLean showed two yellow cards in a ten-minute spell as United’s Prince Buaben and ‘Well’s Gow both had their names taken for late challenges. As the game ticked towards half time, David Goodwillie was fouled just outside the penalty area but in a shot that summed up United’s first 45 minutes, Prince Buaben fired well over the bar from a short lay-off. United did win their first corner after 43 minutes but Daly was penalised for a foul on the ‘keeper as Douglas delivered from the right.

Motherwell went in ahead but it would have been Craig Brown who would have been the more disappointed manager that his side hadn’t managed to score any more. United never really got started and took 27 minutes to even threaten the Motherwell goal.
United emerged for the second half looking like a selection of extras from Casualty as Scott Severin joined captain Jon Daly in sporting a white head bandage after a first-half head knock. But within five minutes of the restart, Peter Houston’s patched-up troops were level. A ball in from the right was blocked by Motherwell captain Stephen Craigan but referee McLean adjudged that he had used a hand and had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Unlike last week, the official stuck to his decision and David Goodwillie stepped up to send Randolph the wrong way with a right-foot shot into the net, scoring for United for the fifth consecutive game. The second half was shaping up to be a far less one-sided affair as United finally gave the travelling fans something to sing about although neither team could create a clear-cut chance. However, on 67 minutes Scott Severin made a crucial block on a Chris Humphrey shot as the winger broke on the counter-attack. Five minutes later Dusan Pernis made a flying save to deflect a Jamie Murphy shot round his right-hand post as the home side enjoyed a decent spell of pressure. This pressure was to tell on 75 minutes. Humphrey, the best player on the pitch this afternoon, was given far too much space on the right wing once again and he was able to fire a ball right across the goal which Sean Dillon could only turn into his own net with Nick Blackman lurking at the back post. Now chasing the game, Peter Houston replaced David Robertson with Johnny Russell as United looked to come back for a second time. However, it was Motherwell who continued to threaten as a bulleted header by Steven Saunders from a Humphrey corner went just over the bar as the home side closed out the game to take all three points. Before the end, referee McLean, who had been unpopular with the home fans for the whole game, showed yellow cards to Humphrey for dissent and David Robertson for what appeared to be persistent fouling.