CUT & PRIDE
Wage blow players’ attitude praised as Clark double earns Arabs points
Micky Mellon saluted his United stars for refusing to make a drama out of the wage cut bombshell which has struck Tannadice.
Nicky Clark struck a double to fire the Arabs up to fifth in the table and end a torrid week for the club.
Bosses are in talks with staff and players over a 20 per cent wage cut in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
Mellon said: “There’s no big dramas. Trust me.
“There’s a pandemic on and every industry in the world is dealing with a tough time.
“We said from the start we can’t allow it to become a bigger drama than what everybody might make it out to be.
“People have to cut their cloth accordingly. There’s no fans coming through the door.
“The boys know that and keep grafting for the club to pick up results. They deserve a lot of credit but not just for today. They are fighting really hard.”
Clark took his tally to seven for the season with the double before Oli Shaw struck late on for the Staggies.
Unusually, this match kicked off at exactly the same time as Dundee’s Championship clash with Raith Rovers just 200 yards down the road.
Not that Tannadice Street was a cacophony of noise with the turnstyles firmly shut.
United started brightly and
Peter Pawlett came close after 15 minutes when his f lick almost sneaked in from Luke Bolton’s low cross.
But the home side only had to wait another three minutes to open the scoring.
Count y’s Iain Vigur s virtually caught an awkward bouncing ball in the box to give United a spot-kick that Clark expertly dispatched.
Pawlett screwed a shot wide after brilliant link- up between Lawrence Shankland and Ian Harkes.
County had the bulk of firsthalf possession but struggled to make much impact.
And the Dingwall side’s task got even tougher nine minutes after the restart when Mark
Reynolds pounced on a loose ball inside the box following a Pawlett free-kick.
The skipper’s bobbling shot appeared to be heading in anyway but Clark applied the final touch to claim his double.
Clark is often the unsung hero of this United side and he was denied a hat-trick by ref Steven Kirkland’s whistle for offside as he closed down on Doohan with 25 minutes to go.
County kept probing and sub Shaw was played in by Charlie Lakin to slot past Siegrist in 81 minutes.
But despite having 65 per cent of possession, that was to be all the Staggies had to show for their efforts as the slip to eighth in the table.