Utd miss Falkirk slip left the door wide open for the Terrors but they couldn’t produce

PLAYERRATINGS

SOMETIMES in football, as in life, it’s just not your day. It would be fair to say Dundee United can agree after being held by Dumbarton.

The message all week from the United camp was that there would be no eyes on Falkirk earlier in the day.

If they had glimpsed the score — a 2-2 draw with Queen of the South — before 5.15 (and you know fine well a few of them did) the desire to down Dumbarton and occupy second going into the final day would have been boosted considerably.

And, before many of the fans were even comfortably seated, it looked as though the Tangerines would do just that.

Wato Kuate replaced the injured Scott Allardice, with Coll Donaldson slotting in for suspended stalwart William Edjenguele as Ray McKinnon stuck to a recently-favoured 4-4-2.

United took the initiative with a speed and intent that had the Dumbarton players reeling, penned in deep in their own half and lucky to get the odd toe on the ball amid wave after wave of home attack.

Only 40 seconds were on the clock when a lofted ball forward clipped the heel of a falling Thomas Mikkelsen and dropped invitingly at Simon Murray’s feet.

The striker sent his effort high and wide but a promising start for Ray McKinnon’s side nonetheless.

The onslaught continued and Murray was left scratching his head as he realised he could, and probably should, have had a hat-trick within five minutes.

United dominated much of the first half, with Murray looking lively despite his trouble in front of goal, and the composure and technical ability of Kuate was a joy to watch for many Arabs.

The Manchester City youth product looks like a player with all the quality to thrive at Tannadice but there were signs he may be a touch rusty, preferring to play the game at his own subdued pace.

His skill on the ball saw him out of a few tricky situations where he wasn’t quite up to speed.

Twenty-two minutes in, Tony Andreu broke the deadlock with a bullet header from a corner.

The elation was cut short, though, when former Terror Robert Thomson found himself unmarked at the back post to pull the visitors level.

This appeared to shake United and, even after the half-time break, they didn’t look the same side who were flying early on.

The game opened up as legs tired and disaster inevitably struck for United when Raith-loanee Lewis Vaughan slipped through the back-line and dinked Cammy Bell from an acute angle.

Murray’s woe continued as he squandered futher chances with United looking for a response.

Thanfully for the majority of the 5,107 in attendance, that reponse came courtesy of Mikkelsen — the Dane reacting quickly to tap in after Alan Martin had spilled the ball 11 minutes from time.

A tense finish bore no fruit for United, and they settled for a point, meaning things stayed as was in the table, and the battle for second hinges on the final day, where Dumbarton could do McKinnon and Co. a favour in beating the Bairns.

The story of the day, though, had to be Vaughan potentially sealing the Sons’ safety while his parent club Raith face the drop. Bitter-sweet and then some.