Dundee Utd 1
Partick Th 0
League Cup (2nd Round)

Match Report

The clash with Partick Thistle wasn't expected to provide us with an easy passage and that was exactly how the match developed. Michael O'Neill, making his debut after his record signing from Newcastle United, was the first to threaten the Thistle goal with a first time effort from a Mixu Paatelainen corner, and we were very unlucky not to take the lead after 27 minutes when Jim McInally's header from a Jackson free-kick was blocked by the Jags' 'keeper with his face! Thistle's first threat on goal came on the half hour mark when their new signing from Airdrie, Callum Campbell, worked his way into a good scoring position, only for John Clark to intervene with a remarkable last ditch clearance. From the ensuing corner the United number five cleared a net-bound header off the line.

We finally got our noses in front seven minutes into the second half. Jim Kerr lost out in a tackle to Kevin Gallacher and the loose ball was picked up by Michael O'Neill, who drifted past MacDonald before hitting a low shot into the far corner of the net. Ten minutes later we might have gone further ahead. Freddy Van Der Hoorn's free kick rebounded from the 'keeper but John Clark couldn't keep the ball down as he followed up. The game appeared to have been sewn up in the 79th minute when Darren Jackson scored from the edge of the box, but Michael O'Neill was adjudged to have been in an off-side position and the goal was disallowed.

The game ended in a flurry of activity and controversy. Firstly, Scott Thomson, who had been virtually redundant in the second half, brilliantly turned a header from Wright away as Thistle chased an equaliser. At the other end Kevin Gallacher appeared to be tripped in the box, but no penalty was forthcoming and the incident ended with Kevin being booked, as was Jimmy McInally after a subsequent foul. However, we were safely through by then and the tie had proved just as difficult as had been anticipated.