Dundee Utd0–1Dunfermline

A surprise inclusion in the United line-up was David Fernandez and the Spaniard was one of the early eye catchers in what was a determined and steely United performance. In six minutes, a McIntyre cross was met flush by the head of Samuel but, to the dismay of the United faithful, the striker’s blank point header was saved by McGregor. With 22 minutes on the clock and the Tangerines well ahead, Dunfermline were gifted an opportunity when Kenneth was woefully short with a pass back and Burchill reacted to reach the ball first but thankfully for United his shot from 18 yards was easily saved by Samson. In 25 minutes, a deflected dipping Mulgrew shot had the Dunfermline goalkeeper beaten all ends up but glanced off the top of the bar and United’s reward was simply a corner. In 29 minutes, a Duff drive from 20 yards just cleared the bar and post as United exerted more and more pressure. United’s solid performance received a blow in 34 minutes when Abbot had to go off injured. This saw Duff going to right back and Robertson coming on in the right midfield area.

The second half started with the flow of traffic once more heading towards the Dunfermline goal and twice within 60 seconds, great efforts from Cameron and Mulgrew both flashed just wide of the Dunfermline goal frame with the keeper well beaten. The visitors then had their best spell of the match when they dominated proceedings for ten minutes with United seeming to lose their shape and discipline. United weathered this storm and again took the upper hand with plenty of possession but without much success. In the 65th minute, United had what looked like a stonewall penalty claim turned down. Mulgrew fought hard to win the ball on the left bye line and his cross fell perfectly for Fernandez six yards out but, as the Spaniard struck the ball, he was pulled back by a Dunfermline defender and skied the ball over the bar. Referee Craig Thomson clearly indicated to the United players that he did not have a clear view of the incident.

As has been the case for a lot of games this season, one mistake was to cost United the points. In 78 minutes, with United looking likely to grab a winner, the ball was played into the United box and, as Kenneth attempted to clear the ball, it got stuck under his feet with the Dunfermline strikers ready to pounce. He could only stab the ball along the edge of the area and Daquin launched a blistering drive high into the corner of the United net. The home team rallied and tried to get the goal back and youngster Cameron, in particular, was showing how to go about it but the Dunfermline rearguard was never truly tested in the last ten minutes and the Pars held on for what may turn out to be a money spinning three points.