Goodwin’s men finally get some luck to return with a win
IF St Mirren had been overdue a bit of luck on the pitch after a disastrous run into the winter break then this was the payoff. Jim Goodwin’s side had not tasted victory for 11 outings in the lead up to the Scottish Premiership winter break and were in freefall towards the bottom of the table.
But at Tannadice The Buddies looked a different team, both literally and mentally, as they put Dundee United to the sword. St Mirren welcomed back a host of first-team stars after a Covidstricken festive period for a large chunk of the playing squad. One notable absence, however, was Jamie McGrath who did not make the squad amid transfer speculation with links to the English Championship.
Dundee United had two new faces as Thomas Courts named both Tony Watt and Carljohan Eriksson on the bench.
For all the changes, it was one constant over the festive period who made the difference in the opening stages. Young St Mirren winger Jay Henderson had the beating of Scott McMann from the first whistle and was a driving force in the first half for Goodwin’s side. First he showed his skill with a bit of flair in a tidy flick past McMann before drawing a foul which saw the United man booked.
He was then integral in the opener on 15 minutes. Alan Power popped a loose ball into the feet of the attacker who combined with Greg Kiltie with a deft one-two before unleashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner from the edge of the box. It was his first goal for the club, and it turned out to be vital in this breathless encounter.
Just five minutes later and the travelling St Mirren support thought they had a second. Kiltie found the net with a low driven effort and was wheeling away in celebration but an offside flag cancelled out the strike with Eamonn Brophy adjudged to have obstructed Benjamin Siegrist’s vision as he leapt out of the way of the shot.
If it was all St Mirren in the first half, it was much more of Dundee United’s match in the second. Jak Alnwick first denied
a Charlie Mulgrew free-kick with a strong push clear before stopping the United defender a second time as he threw his body in the way of an improvised effort to stop on the line.
Just a minute later, Dundee United were denied what appeared to be strong penalty appeals as Ian Harkes hammered towards goal only for Alan Power to block the shot with an outstretched right arm as he looked to stop the effort. Referee Alan Muir was unmoved as play continued.
For all the hosts’ dominance since the re-start it was St Mirren who went on to double their lead. Kiltie was again involved as he latched on to a Marcus Fraser through-ball before sliding across goal for Brophy to pass into the net on the hour.
It was a suckerpunch for United and it could have been worse as Kiltie found space in the box but curled his effort just wide.
Substitute Kieran Freeman injected some energy into the hosts’ play as the match wore on and should have had an assist as he picked out Marc McNulty but he blazed over from 10 yards.
He would, however, create United’s consolation with 17 minutes left as he again found space rampaging down the right and rifling into the box where Power turned into his own net.
Freeman almost made himself a hero moments later when an aimless ball into the box fell at the back-post and he threw himself at the ball to flick goalwards, but again Alnwick foiled any hopes of a late leveller with a smart stop.