FIXTURE INFORMATION | DUNDEE UNITED B V DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC B
26th November 2024
United turned out an expert performance this afternoon to reach the Scottish Cup semi final with a dominant 5-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, sending their jubilant travelling support home with one of the most enjoyable Scottish Cup days out since the final of 2010 added to the memory bank.
Manager Jackie McNamara made only one change to the side that had triumphed at Easter Road. Returning to the side for the first time since making his 250th appearance for the club was club captain Sean Dillon, stepping in for Curtis Good who had picked up an injury on duty with Australia. Taking places on the bench in place of Aidan Connolly and Dillon were Calum Butcher and, returning from injury, John Souttar.
The first half provided non-stop entertainment for the Arabs in attendance. The opening ten minutes seemed to suggest that both teams were up for the match with some tasty tackles and aggression seemingly the order of the day in the early stages. But there was to be only one team who wanted the win. Despite flurries of attack for both sides, Nadir Ciftci opened the scoring for United after a quarter hour's play. Nodding the ball past Brill in the Inverness goal, he calmly squeezed the ball home from an angle to make it 1-0, leaving Josh Meekings chasing a lost cause. A calamitous error at the back for Inverness just nine minutes later saw Ciftci score a second when Brill shot a clearance into Meekings' back, leaving the United striker to turn the ball into the net from a couple of yards. Gavin Gunning got involved on 35 minutes when he was felled in the box by Graeme Shinnie and from the resultant penalty kick, the centre half rifled the ball home for his fourth goal in three games. As the Caley Jags' heads went down, so did their discipline - and the first half was rounded off with a straight red card for Greg Tansey for a rash foul on Paul Paton.
The second half continued as the first had ended with goals for United. Hitting Inverness on the break following an unsuccessful David Raven free-kick, Gary Mackay-Steven picked the ball up from Stuart Armstrong to slot the ball home with the coolest of left foot strikes to make it 4-0 after 49 minutes. Inverness were all at sea. The final goal of the game was netted just before the hour mark when a cross from Keith Watson found the head of Stuart Armstrong for the midfielder's eighth of the season. The scoring ended at five; the Terrors unable to find the sixth goal that would have handed them their biggest win this century. Inverness numbers were further reduced with 20 minutes remaining, when Marley Watkins was dismissed for dangerous play. The final fifteen of the game were played at a canter with United content to retain possession with substitute Farid El Alagui coming closest to netting, and Brian Graham firing just over shortly after. Billy McKay, at the other end, fired a couple of wayward shots high and wide before referee Willie Collum, playing only one minute of added time, called a halt to proceedings.
The Arabs in the away end certainly appeared to outweigh the small home crowd who had shown up for the tie and were vocal throughout, spurring the team on at every opportunity. Not only does the result send United into the Scottish Cup semi final, but the 5-0 scoreline marks Jackie McNamara's biggest win as United manager and also sees United secure their first clean sheet this side of last Christmas. Although they never quite secured that record breaking win, the result does actually go down as United's biggest win against a top flight Scottish team this century.
Man of the Match: Nadir Ciftci
Despite only playing sixty minutes of today's game, the influence of Nadir Ciftci up front was undeniable, in terms of strength, position and determination. His goals were the icing on the cake for an already dominant performance as the man spearheading the Terrors attack.
Inverness CT:
Brill, Raven, Warren, Meekings, Shinnie, Watkins, Vincent, Tansey, Doran (Polworth 60), Foran (Williams 60), McKay (Christie 87)
Sent off: Tansey, Watkins
United:
Cierzniak, Watson, Robertson, Dillon, Gunning, Paton, Rankin (Gomis 59), Armstrong, Mackay-Steven, Ciftci (Graham 60), Dow (El AlAgui 54)
Goals:
Ciftci 16, 28, Gunning pen 36, Mackay-Steven 49, Armstrong 57
Cautions: Ciftci, Mackay-Steven
Attendance: 3,164
Manager Jackie McNamara made only one change to the side that had triumphed at Easter Road. Returning to the side for the first time since making his 250th appearance for the club was club captain Sean Dillon, stepping in for Curtis Good who had picked up an injury on duty with Australia. Taking places on the bench in place of Aidan Connolly and Dillon were Calum Butcher and, returning from injury, John Souttar.
The first half provided non-stop entertainment for the Arabs in attendance. The opening ten minutes seemed to suggest that both teams were up for the match with some tasty tackles and aggression seemingly the order of the day in the early stages. But there was to be only one team who wanted the win. Despite flurries of attack for both sides, Nadir Ciftci opened the scoring for United after a quarter hour's play. Nodding the ball past Brill in the Inverness goal, he calmly squeezed the ball home from an angle to make it 1-0, leaving Josh Meekings chasing a lost cause. A calamitous error at the back for Inverness just nine minutes later saw Ciftci score a second when Brill shot a clearance into Meekings' back, leaving the United striker to turn the ball into the net from a couple of yards. Gavin Gunning got involved on 35 minutes when he was felled in the box by Graeme Shinnie and from the resultant penalty kick, the centre half rifled the ball home for his fourth goal in three games. As the Caley Jags' heads went down, so did their discipline - and the first half was rounded off with a straight red card for Greg Tansey for a rash foul on Paul Paton.
The second half continued as the first had ended with goals for United. Hitting Inverness on the break following an unsuccessful David Raven free-kick, Gary Mackay-Steven picked the ball up from Stuart Armstrong to slot the ball home with the coolest of left foot strikes to make it 4-0 after 49 minutes. Inverness were all at sea. The final goal of the game was netted just before the hour mark when a cross from Keith Watson found the head of Stuart Armstrong for the midfielder's eighth of the season. The scoring ended at five; the Terrors unable to find the sixth goal that would have handed them their biggest win this century. Inverness numbers were further reduced with 20 minutes remaining, when Marley Watkins was dismissed for dangerous play. The final fifteen of the game were played at a canter with United content to retain possession with substitute Farid El Alagui coming closest to netting, and Brian Graham firing just over shortly after. Billy McKay, at the other end, fired a couple of wayward shots high and wide before referee Willie Collum, playing only one minute of added time, called a halt to proceedings.
The Arabs in the away end certainly appeared to outweigh the small home crowd who had shown up for the tie and were vocal throughout, spurring the team on at every opportunity. Not only does the result send United into the Scottish Cup semi final, but the 5-0 scoreline marks Jackie McNamara's biggest win as United manager and also sees United secure their first clean sheet this side of last Christmas. Although they never quite secured that record breaking win, the result does actually go down as United's biggest win against a top flight Scottish team this century.
Man of the Match: Nadir Ciftci
Despite only playing sixty minutes of today's game, the influence of Nadir Ciftci up front was undeniable, in terms of strength, position and determination. His goals were the icing on the cake for an already dominant performance as the man spearheading the Terrors attack.
Inverness CT:
Brill, Raven, Warren, Meekings, Shinnie, Watkins, Vincent, Tansey, Doran (Polworth 60), Foran (Williams 60), McKay (Christie 87)
Sent off: Tansey, Watkins
United:
Cierzniak, Watson, Robertson, Dillon, Gunning, Paton, Rankin (Gomis 59), Armstrong, Mackay-Steven, Ciftci (Graham 60), Dow (El AlAgui 54)
Goals:
Ciftci 16, 28, Gunning pen 36, Mackay-Steven 49, Armstrong 57
Cautions: Ciftci, Mackay-Steven
Attendance: 3,164
