Dundee Utd 1
Motherwell 0
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

The opening home league match against Motherwell was played on a perfect Tannadice playing surface and there is no doubt that we played some lovely football, particularly in the first half. The only criticism was that we failed to win by more than one goal, though we certainly created plenty of chances. The first of these came when Maxwell dropped a corner, but Colin O'Neill cleared Freddy Van Der Hoorn's shot. Two minutes later Michael O'Neill's crossfield path found Darren Jackson who cut inside and fired in a low shot, but Maxwell made a fine save. Motherwell weren't entirely out of it and twice Chris McCart was up at set pieces. Once he headed over, but his other effort was well saved by Billy Thomson. In the 31st minute we almost went ahead when O'Neill's corner was flicked on to the inside of the post by Maxwell. A minute later and the Motherwell keeper was well beaten. Alex Cleland intercepted Bobby Russell's pass, swept past a defender before giving Maxwell no chance with his low grounder. Five minutes later Billy Thomson made a magnificent save from a long range Davie Cooper free-kick. Just on half-time Darren Jackson rounded Maxwell but his shot rebounded off the post.

Maxwell continued to be the busier keeper in the second half. He had to tip a shot from Brian Welsh round the post and even when he was beaten George Burley was on hand to clear John O'Neil's netbound effort off the line. In the end this was a more comfortable win than the scoreline suggested and was a fine confidence booster not just for the Skol Cup Quarter-Final re-match with Motherwell three days later, but for the season as a whole.