FIXTURE INFORMATION | DUNDEE UNITED B V DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC B
26th November 2024
A rather chilly December afternoon greeted the players and supporters at Tannadice Park today. Ross County kicked off playing down towards the home fans in the Eddie Thompson Stand.
United started positively by playing some good attacking football. Again Mackay-Steven was showing his class with some great ball control and touches. Ross County had a few early chances however, these came to nothing. United did find the back of the net but this was deemed offside. Ross County came close to scoring when Luckassen headed wide after a good cross was fired in. Another chance came up for Ross County when a dangerous free kick from Graham Carey hit the United crossbar. A deflected shot from about 25 yards from Rocco Quinn gave Ross County a corner - Rankin did well to clear. Graham came close for United when a beautiful flighted cross found his head but also found keeper Michael Fraser's arms. A well worked free kick between Armstrong and Graham won a corner but this did not come to anything. Some more pressing play by Ross County saw a De Leeuw shot going wide. A cracking corner saw Gavin Gunning heading but the County keeper made an excellent save. Another superb cross found Graham rise above everyone else in the box but once again Fraser made another good goal-stopping save. Just before half-time Gunning took a head knock but he recovered quickly. The first-half ended all square which was probably a fair summing up of the first half.
The second half kicked off with Dundee United looking in a very positive mode and the home fans roared them on. John Rankin fired in a great shot which sadly went over the bar. United were playing some good attacking football. Ex-United player Brian McLean fired in a shot which was easily saved by the keeper. A corner to United saw Graham coming close once again. A good run from Armstrong led to another United corner which was again cleared by County. United were now piling on the pressure. Again, Armstrong went on a good run and almost scored but unfortunately his shot was just wide off the mark. By now Manager McNamara was on the touchline encouraging the players as he too felt a goal was possibly imminent. Another great run by Mackay-Steven won yet another corner but to no avail. Ross County tried a quick free kick move but were pulled by back referee Brines. Throughout the second half Rankin and Armstrong were making some great passes to one another. United made two subs with Gauld being replaced by Ciftci and Goodwillie coming on for Graham. Within seconds of being on the pitch Ciftci headed a great ball, but once again County keeper Fraser pulled off a brilliant save to deny the big striker a goal. United again were upping their game. With pressure mounting, the ball came to Goodwillie who blasted over the bar. A few minutes later Gary Mackay-Steven scored a cracking goal after a beautiful pass from Armstrong. By now there was some fine one-touch football from United in abundance at times. However, Ross County were to prove they were still in the game when Carey fired in a dangerous shot but thankfully no County player got to the end of it. Souttar, Gunning and Wilson were mopping up everything County threw at them - a joy to watch. Rankin, at times was unstoppable with his runs through the midfield and decided to have a go from 25 yards. Andy Robertson almost scored but the ball raced past him and was saved by the diving Fraser. Mackay-Steven again tried but this time his shot was somewhat lightweight and easily saved. County were still dangerous though and certainly could not be written off. However, they could not break down the strong Dundee United defence. The home side went on to claim victory to keep this magnificent unbeaten run going. So there is plenty of festive cheer for the Arabs - and long may it continue.
Man of the Match: John Rankin, who never seemed to put a foot wrong in midfield this afternoon.
Crowd 8,029
Dundee United: Cierzniak, Wilson, Souttar, Gunning, Robertson, Paton, Mackay-Steven, Gauld, Armstrong, Graham
Substitutes McCallum, Dillon, Gomis, Dow, Erskine, Goodwillie, Ciftci
Ross County: Fraser, Kovacevic, Gordon, Kettlewell, Boyd, Brittain, Quinn, De Leeuw, Luckassen, McLean, Carey
Substitutes Brown, Micic, Mustafi, Maatsen, Glen, Cooper, Ross
Referee: Iain Brines
United started positively by playing some good attacking football. Again Mackay-Steven was showing his class with some great ball control and touches. Ross County had a few early chances however, these came to nothing. United did find the back of the net but this was deemed offside. Ross County came close to scoring when Luckassen headed wide after a good cross was fired in. Another chance came up for Ross County when a dangerous free kick from Graham Carey hit the United crossbar. A deflected shot from about 25 yards from Rocco Quinn gave Ross County a corner - Rankin did well to clear. Graham came close for United when a beautiful flighted cross found his head but also found keeper Michael Fraser's arms. A well worked free kick between Armstrong and Graham won a corner but this did not come to anything. Some more pressing play by Ross County saw a De Leeuw shot going wide. A cracking corner saw Gavin Gunning heading but the County keeper made an excellent save. Another superb cross found Graham rise above everyone else in the box but once again Fraser made another good goal-stopping save. Just before half-time Gunning took a head knock but he recovered quickly. The first-half ended all square which was probably a fair summing up of the first half.
The second half kicked off with Dundee United looking in a very positive mode and the home fans roared them on. John Rankin fired in a great shot which sadly went over the bar. United were playing some good attacking football. Ex-United player Brian McLean fired in a shot which was easily saved by the keeper. A corner to United saw Graham coming close once again. A good run from Armstrong led to another United corner which was again cleared by County. United were now piling on the pressure. Again, Armstrong went on a good run and almost scored but unfortunately his shot was just wide off the mark. By now Manager McNamara was on the touchline encouraging the players as he too felt a goal was possibly imminent. Another great run by Mackay-Steven won yet another corner but to no avail. Ross County tried a quick free kick move but were pulled by back referee Brines. Throughout the second half Rankin and Armstrong were making some great passes to one another. United made two subs with Gauld being replaced by Ciftci and Goodwillie coming on for Graham. Within seconds of being on the pitch Ciftci headed a great ball, but once again County keeper Fraser pulled off a brilliant save to deny the big striker a goal. United again were upping their game. With pressure mounting, the ball came to Goodwillie who blasted over the bar. A few minutes later Gary Mackay-Steven scored a cracking goal after a beautiful pass from Armstrong. By now there was some fine one-touch football from United in abundance at times. However, Ross County were to prove they were still in the game when Carey fired in a dangerous shot but thankfully no County player got to the end of it. Souttar, Gunning and Wilson were mopping up everything County threw at them - a joy to watch. Rankin, at times was unstoppable with his runs through the midfield and decided to have a go from 25 yards. Andy Robertson almost scored but the ball raced past him and was saved by the diving Fraser. Mackay-Steven again tried but this time his shot was somewhat lightweight and easily saved. County were still dangerous though and certainly could not be written off. However, they could not break down the strong Dundee United defence. The home side went on to claim victory to keep this magnificent unbeaten run going. So there is plenty of festive cheer for the Arabs - and long may it continue.
Man of the Match: John Rankin, who never seemed to put a foot wrong in midfield this afternoon.
Crowd 8,029
Dundee United: Cierzniak, Wilson, Souttar, Gunning, Robertson, Paton, Mackay-Steven, Gauld, Armstrong, Graham
Substitutes McCallum, Dillon, Gomis, Dow, Erskine, Goodwillie, Ciftci
Ross County: Fraser, Kovacevic, Gordon, Kettlewell, Boyd, Brittain, Quinn, De Leeuw, Luckassen, McLean, Carey
Substitutes Brown, Micic, Mustafi, Maatsen, Glen, Cooper, Ross
Referee: Iain Brines
