Kilmarnock 3 United 2

A last minute goal from Kilmarnock saw United leave Rugby Park empty-handed this afternoon. Summary by Joe James Despite a physical battle against Stranraer last weekend, United made just three changes to the starting eleven that defeated the Dumfries side with minimum fuss. In came John Rankin for Paul Paton, Charlie Telfer for Calum Butcher and Paul Dixon for the suspended Jaroslaw Fojut. First half: A ferocious start to proceedings saw referee Stephen Finnie blow for a United penalty inside two minutes. Alexei Eremenko's clumsy challenge into the back of John Rankin brought the midfielder down and Nadir Ciftci cooly slotted past Samson and into the net. Although United continued pressurising the Killie defence, seven minutes after Ciftci's opener Josh Magennis latched onto a Manuel Pascali header and guided his shot into the back of the net. Despite Kilmarnock's snappy equaliser, United responded in the perfect manner by taking the lead again. Chris Erskine's defence splitting pass was controlled cleverly by Henri Anier before curling a shot into the corner of Craig Samson's goal. Second half: The home side dominated the vast majority of the second half and after seven minutes levelled the scores again. The dangerous Chris Johnstone swiftly knicked the ball from Rankin on the edge of the box and then poked a shot underneath Cierzniak and for a Killie equaliser. With only seconds remaining, Kilmarnock were awarded a free-kick right on the edge of the which Sammy Clingan curled into the top corner. In the dying seconds, Rankin brought down Johnstone on the edge of the box with the referee awarding a free-kick. Up stepped Sammy Clingan whose curling strike flew right into the top corner, giving Kilmarnock the victory. Kilmarnock: Samson, Connolly, Clingan, Johnston, Obadeyi, Slater ('73 Hamill), Eremenko ('86 Ecclestone), Chantler, Magennis, Pascali, Westlake. Unused subs: Brennan, Barbour, Cairney, O'Hara, Syme. United: Cierzniak, McGowan ('46 Spark), Morris, Dillon, Dixon, Rankin, Telfer, Erskine ('56 Spittal), Ciftci, Dow, Anier ('74 Muirhead). Unused subs: Szromnik, Paton, Butcher, Spittal, Connolly, Spark. Full report to follow.