Striker only too happy to cash in on mistakes
Clark has little sympathy over Sena errors
DUNDEE UNITED striker Nicky Clark did not feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Partick Thistle’s Mouhamed “Sena” Niang after two errors from the young defender cost the Jags a place in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
Ian McCall’s side were 1-0 up at the break thanks to Scott Tiffoney’s close-range header and could have had the game out of sight had Brian Graham or Shea Gordon showed a bit more ruthlessness in front of goal.
However, two goals in the last 10 minutes swung the tie in United’s favour. The first arrived when Sena, who had been excellent up until that point, lost his balance with the ball at his feet in the area, allowing Lawrence Shankland to nip in and prod the ball home from close range.
The second was more controversial. A hopeful punt forward from Mark Reynolds landed awkwardly between Sena and Thistle goalkeeper Kieran Wright, as Clark followed in behind them. Replays on television appeared to show the striker nudge
Sena into Wright, giving the 29-year-old all the time in the world to roll the ball into the unguarded net and seal United’s passage to the next round.
According to McCall, Sena was “very, very emotional” after the game, with the Thistle boss adding that he comforted the defender with a short walk around the stadium at full time.
But Clark had no pity for his opponent’s plight and said there was no foul in the buildup to that all-important goal.
“No! I’m delighted. As long as he’s not injured, then that’s the main thing, but I don’t feel sorry for him, nah,” he said.
“I saw the two of them coming and the pitch was really dry, so I knew it was going to slow up for me. I’ve seen the goalie sprinting out and the big man’s looking at the ball so I knew there was a chance they’d collide.”
And as for the nudge?
“Nah,” he said with a wry grin. “There was no need to! You can tell me later when you see it!
Clark admitted the result could have been very different had Graham managed to convert a gilt-edged opportunity towards the end of the first half. Gordon had sprung past the United defence with a well-timed run and squared the ball to his team-mate, only for Graham’s lunging leg to prod the ball past the post.
“I didn’t see that properly, I don’t know if it was maybe off-side or not – the boys were certainly claiming for it – but it’s one we got away with and luck was on our side there,” he said. “It’s the same with most cup games, you just want to get through no matter how you do it.”
For Thistle’s Tiffoney, however, there was another impressive display since his arrival on loan from Livingston barely two weeks ago. The 22-year-old forward has injected some firepower into the Jags’ front line with a haul of three goals in as many games.
He showed good instincts to react quickly in the box and nod the ball home from a few yards out in the first half and he admitted the late goals were a real sucker punch.
“We’re absolutely gutted,” he said. “Especially in the first half, I thought we played really, really well.
“We can’t defend like that against better teams or they’ll punish us. But first half, second half, we’ve had the most chances in the game. We needed to score at least one more. We had a few big chances and that’s really the story of the game. They were gifted two chances and took them and we only took one of ours.
“All the boys are gutted. For 80 minutes we dominated the game. We’ve come up against a Premiership side and as you could see, we definitely deserved to win overall. But you can’t defend like that against better teams and not take your chances. It will come back to haunt you.”