Dundee Utd2–2Dundee

The hosts started with a spell of pressure and forced an early corner before Billy Mckay twice found space deep inside the box only to be thwarted by the visiting defence. In the 25th minute good set up play from Mckay gave Blair Spittal a chance at goal but his left foot effort was screwed wide before Gavin Gunning had to block a fierce Gary Harkins drive for a corner. Disaster struck for United in the 34th minute when a McGowan shot from outside the box deflected straight into the path of Kane Hemmings, who couldn’t miss as he slid the ball under Kawashima despite the efforts of Paton to keep the ball out. Rankin, Dow, Anier and Gunning all had half chances which were struck over the bar and then right on half time the task was made doubly difficult for United. Greg Stewart, who had looked suspiciously offside, was allowed to run clear before squaring to Kane Hemmings who bundled in from close range. There was a flashpoint right on the half time whistle between Paul Dixon and Stewart which left the United man rolling on the ground but the officials remained unmoved.

Following the break there was an immediate lifeline for the Tangerines when in the 50th minute Mckay latched onto a through ball and was taken out by Scott Bain in the area resulting in a red card and a penalty to the hosts. Despite the delay while sub keeper David Mitchell was brought on Billy Mckay remained calm and coolly slotted the kick down the middle to put his team right back in it. Then followed, as expected, a barrage of balls into the Dundee box with Spittal in particular sending in some real quality. The introduction of Edward Ofere and Scott Fraser proved pivotal as both were heavily involved in sustained home pressure. There were chances for Mckay, Ofere and Spittal before an equaliser did arrive in the most dramatic fashion at the start of injury time. After the ball bounced around the Dundee box for what seemed like an age it finally ended up in the back of the net as Billy Mckay stooped in to head home form 6 yards. Tannadice was going wild and unbelievably they almost went on to grab a winner when a Spittal corner was headed goal ward by Gunning before Donaldson lashed the rebound over. In the end it was a deserved point for the Tangerines as the fight for survival gathers pace.

Manager's Comment:
“Delighted with the point. Little bit disappointed we never took the full three points. I thought it was there for us. The second goal, we fell asleep a little bit. They punished us. The way they fought and kept believing - thankfully we got there in the end. You can't take anything for granted, even though we have a game in hand. We have to win that game and the rest of them. We just keep our heads down and keep working and hopefully, hopefully come the end of the season, we're not last, at least."

Fan's Comment:
“It was looking ominous at half time but we got a break with the penalty and sending off and to be honest, we should have won in in the end. It's a point closer to Killie but the games are running out and we could really do with winning some. Dixon and Dow struggled and the back three didn't look comfortable all day.”

Formation: 3-4-1-2
Captain: Paul Paton
Arab Archive 'Man of the Match': Billy Mckay

Match Photos courtesy of Riki Grauer - More photos available at:
Dundee United Official Flickr Page