Double delight as King to rule Laa-Laa land

Teletubby heads for Dublin after taking care of serious business

MORTON 0 DUNDEE UNITED 2

Billy King celebrated breaking his league-scoring duck by dressing up in Dublin as the most-wanted Christmas toy of 1997.

The Dundee United winger had his Teletubbies outfit packed for the team’s festive bash in Ireland with three points also in the bag thanks to the welldeserved win over Morton at Cappielow.

King was cast as Laa-Laa in the Dublin fancy-dress fun but he was deadly serious as his clinical double strike helped the Tangerines maintain their place at the top of the Championship table.

He said: “The boys are all delighted. It was all about getting the three points.

“We are going to Dublin and it is fancy dress on the Sunday. Sam Stanton, Paul McMullan, Cammy Ballantyne and myself are all going as the Teletubbies.

“I’m going as the yellow one. The outfits are all a secret with the boys. So we will just wake up and see what everyone is wearing which will be a laugh.”

King, though, admitted that his long wait for a league goal was no laughing matter.

The 23-year-old said: “I knew I was creating chances for myself but it just wasn’t happening. I’ve been playing well and today I just managed to finish them off.

“It was a bit frustrating for me not getting off the mark in the league.

“This was a massive game for us and tough place to come. It was a must-win for us to keep the pressure up. I thought we played well.”

King’s first goal was a superb drilled finish and he admitted that his boss Csaba Laszlo’s half-time words of wisdom were still ringing in his ears when he decided to hit it.

He smiled and said: “It was OK, eh? The gaffer said at half-time that we were getting into good areas but just not striking it.

“We were trying to over-pass perhaps at times so that was on my mind when we came back out. If I got into the area I’d just have a shot and that’s what I managed to do.

“We have a good bunch with a great mix of experience and young ones. That helps you come through games like this, tough away fixtures you have to win.

“The experienced boys help the younger ones.”

United had their first opportunity at Cappielow in just the fifth minute when Fraser Fyvie burst into the home box but he dragged his shot wide.

Scott McDonald was next to try his luck but his attempt flew straight into the arms of home keeper Derek Gaston.

Fyvie then gave the ball away with Morton’s Robert Thomson playing in Gary Oliver but he sent his low, angled shot just wide of United goalie Harry Lewis’s right-hand post.

The Tangerines finished the half with a flourish with Fyvie testing Gaston with a shot from the edge of the home box.

The impressive Scott Fraser then teed up McDonald but the Morton keeper again came to his side’s rescue.

Just two minutes after the restart, Morton came close to breaking the deadlock. Ross Forbes whipped in a delightful cross from the right with Thomson’s header superbly saved by Lewis.

United then felt they had a strong case for a penalty when Fraser went down in the Morton box but referee Gavin Duncan was not convinced.

However, that was quickly forgotten in the 61st minute when King opened the scoring. After some neat, patient interplay, the United man took his time just inside the Morton box, teeing himself up to arrow a sensational left-foot shot past the helpless Gaston.

Shortly after though, United hearts were in their mouths when Jai Quitongo latched on to a slack back-pass from Jamie Robson but as Lewis raced out, the Morton player’s composure deserted him, with his heavy touch sending the ball wide of goal.

The Tangerines had a great double opportunity to put the game to bed in the 89th minute. McDonald’s initial shot was blocked with McMullan looking certain to score from the rebound but Gaston pulled off a vital block with his foot.

However, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, United did finally make it two. Morton’s Gary Harkins was dispossessed by sub Patrick N’Koyi with Fyvie then squaring the ball to King to calmly slot low past Gaston to send the 435 Tangerines fans home happy.

Laszlo said: “The most important thing for me to see was that we came out in the second half and we began to dominate the game.

“The three points was very vital for us but we will now look to the next game.”