The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Courts unhappy with referee calls
Dundee United boss Tam Courts insists his side’s Premier Sports Cup dream was wrecked by two dodgy referee calls. Courts was gutted as the Tangerines went 3-0 down to Hibernian at half-time thanks to strikes from Joe Newell, Scott Allan and a hotly-disputed Martin Boyle penalty.
But with Peter Pawlett pulling a goal back for the hosts, he then had a second effort controversially ruled out for offside. I’m really disappointed by that,” said Courts.
“Mark Reynolds has had to spend some time on the bench. He then performs so admirably well and has to deal with an unjust penalty decision. I’m really disappointed for him.
“Then we have Peter Pawlett, who is in the form of his life and is a real joy to watch, denied a goal.
“It would have been a cracking finale if we had been awarded that legitimate goal and took it down the home stretch. Unfortunately, we never got that opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Courts praised his side for the character they showed in their second half showing.
“One thing I know about these players is they’ve got character, togetherness and a bit of grit and determination.
“The target at half-time was to acknowledge the first half was a bit of an anomaly. We wanted to win the second half and see if we could make it uncomfortable for Hibs and I think we did that.”
United will travel to Celtic Park on Sunday without Marc McNulty after he pulled up with a hamstring injury midway through the second period.
They could also be without Charlie Mulgrew, who came off injured after 17 minutes.
But Courts is confident the exCeltic and Scotland star may not be sidelined for a lengthy period.
He added: “With Charlie’s one, we’ve probably caught that early.
“With Marc, there definitely is a bit more fatigue on the hamstring so we need to review that.”