Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Great experience’ for United kids before rain stops play at Tannadice
DUNDEE United and Sheffield United were both beaten by Storm Francis at Tannadice yesterday.
The wind was the winner, the torrential rain triumphant.
With the English Premier League side 1-0 ahead in the friendly thanks to a 43rd-minute tap-in by Billy Sharp, referee Steven McLean called time as the downpour continued.
The ball was getting caught in puddles, particularly at the Shed end of the ground, and it was game over after 45 minutes.
It was a shame for the young Tangerines’ side, which was taken by coaches Brian Grant and Dave Bowman.
The likes of Kerr Smith (16), Ross Graham (19), Nathan Cooney (18) and Chris Mochrie (17) all seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the atrocious conditions.
Grant said: “The pitch was fine in the warm-up but there were little puddles starting to form.
“It wasn’t great and you have to think of the safety of the players.
“It was still a great experience for the lads to be up against players from the English Premier League.
“We knew we would have to give up quite a bit of possession and territory because of who we were playing against – they finished ninth in the EPL last season.
“They gave our team a great test until it was abandoned and our boys embraced that.
“As the match wore on, I thought we grew more into it, although they (Sheffield) did have chances and I think the missed penalty helped us.
“The guys should be quite happy with themselves after that.
“I asked them to embrace the occasion, show how good they were on the ball and be physical. They did all those things.”
There was no sign of injured star striker Lawrence Shankland yet again, with the recognised first-team squad members being keeper Deniz, Adrian Sporle, Kieran Freeman, Declan Glass, Cammy Smith, Adam King and captain Dillon Powers.
United central defender Graham conceded a penalty after just five minutes when he tripped Sander Berge with an outstretched foot but Sharp hit Deniz’s right-hand post so it stayed at 0-0.
Glass tried his luck with a low free-kick for the home team a couple of minutes later that whizzed wide of the post.
Deniz blocked Berge’s effort on 13 minutes then produced two other cracking saves to keep out a shot from Callum Robinson then a mishit cross from Enda Stevens.
Sharp nodded wide from a yard out when he should have scored as the visitors created plenty of chances.
The English team’s next threat didn’t come until the 34th minute, though, and even then Robinson’s angled drive didn’t trouble Deniz.
Two minutes before the break, the Blades took the lead when Deniz got a hand to a low drive from Berge and the loose ball fell right at the feet of Sharp for a tap-in.
However, that was that as far as the action goes as ref McLean called a halt.