DUTV
STORY OF THE MATCH | MOTHERWELL (H)
31st October 2024
The hectic winter schedule for United began with a tough test against Ross County in Dingwall. The hosts had a quick turnaround from their last outing, Blair Spittal’s second-half strike giving County all three points at home to Hibernian on Wednesday night.
Tam Courts made two changes to the side that defeated Aberdeen seven days ago, both influential substitutes, Flo Hoti and Louis Appere, earning starting spots as the suspended Calum Butcher and Jeando Fuchs dropped out the squad completely. The personnel changes meant United had to adapt their shape, the double pivot of Hoti and last week’s hero Ian Harkes sitting behind Peter Pawlett who was gifted a free role to roam and cause chaos in the attacking third. The visitors faced a disciplined 4-4-1-1, dangerman Harry Paton drifting in behind Jordan White to pick up second balls from the frequent duels the striker contested.
The first 20 minutes produced little to no chances for either side in a scrappy contest where the ball spent the majority of time in the air, no surprise considering the aerial prowess in the County ranks. Ryan Edwards, who was named club captain during the week, and White’s constant battle was an entertaining watch as two powerhouses went head-to-head.
Hoti was at the centre of the match as it began to open out, first warming the gloves of Maynard-Brewer with a speculative effort from distance before preventing Blair Spittal from going one-on-one with a crucial intervention following a slip by Kieran Freeman.
The hosts took the upper hand towards the half-hour mark as United struggled to cope with their high press, with Spittal and Paton combining effectively on ventures down the left on multiple occasions and creating effective overloads to pass around the outnumbered Freeman and Hoti.
County should’ve taken the lead through Baldwin when Spittal’s wide free-kick was met by the defender, the ball rebounding back off the post and falling to Paton who half-volleyed back on target. A combination of Edwards and Siegrist miraculously diverted his vicious strike over the bar to safety, sparking a chorus of “I wanna be Edwards” amongst the rowdy travelling support.
Almost instantly after, the sliding White narrowly failed to connect with Jordan Tilson’s delivery from the right, Mulgrew managing to nick the ball off the 29-year-old’s toes.
United’s spell under the cosh continued and the duo of Paton and Spittal linked once more, the former finding the latter with a delicate clipped pass over a stretching defender before Spittal blasted a swerving volley straight at Siegrist.
In the second half, a revitalised Terrors side emerged and took control of proceedings with short, sharp passing leaving the dark blue shirts chasing shadows.
Louis Apperé was the main source of United’s attacking threat, winning a free-kick in a dangerous area just two minutes after the restart which was whipped into the arms of Maynard-Brewer by Charlie Mulgrew. Then, the Academy Graduate was the beneficiary of Niskanen’s tenacity. The Finn’s initial cross was cleared away from Clark by his namesake but the loose ball fell perfectly back to him. At the second bite of the cherry, Niskanen found Apperé who held off the challenge of a County defender and prodded the ball underneath the keeper to net his first goal of the 2021/22 campaign.
The striker’s next involvement saw him jink inside Tilson with ease but thump his effort well over the crossbar.
United, naturally, began to retreat into their own half in an attempt to protect their precious lead. However, this led to Malky MacKay’s side creating multiple opportunities to get back into the match, and left Harkes and Hoti with the tough task of policing the four-man midfield of County on their own.
White failed to capitalise on a well-worked free-kick routine from Spittal and Harry Clarke as he kneed the ball wide of Siegrist’s near-post. The former-United man had a venomous strike of his own on the counter which was met with a strong save by the Swiss.
Siegrist was left helpless though merely 120 seconds later as Baldwin hit the woodwork for a second time after bulleting Spittal’s free-kick off the bar from close-range.
Ross County full-back Clarke then saw red on the 75th minute for a nasty elbow on Hoti as the two battled for a header, the match beginning to bubble into a tasty watch in the bitter cold.
Siegrist pulled off an outrageous stop to deny Spittal for a third time of the afternoon. Substitute Dominic Samuel teed up the winger for a first-time effort, and his low skimming shot took a deflection off Mulgrew. The ball looked destined for the net but Siegrist threw out his left leg to make sure the tangerine advantage remained intact for the meantime.
With two minutes to play, United had a chance to kill the game once and for all, Hoti bursting forward in a three-on-two scenario. The midfielder opted to shoot and hammered the ball into the stand to spurn a marvellous opportunity to secure the three points.
This would come back to haunt the away side deep into stoppage time. A slip from Apperé saw him drag a County player with him and referee Greg Aitkin whistled for a free-kick. Hungbo’s ball into the area was missed by Samuel, then White, but Baldwin arrived onto the scene to touch home from all of two yards, a sucker punch for the Arabs who made the long journey north.
This proved to be the last kick of the game, and while a disappointing conclusion, the point sees United head into Tuesday’s clash with Motherwell in a European spot.
