UNITED WARM UP FOR DERBY DATE
DELIGHTED Dundee United boss Robbie Neilson watched his runaway Championship leaders thrash Ayr United — then urged them to earn the ‘bragging rights’ once more in this Friday night’s Dundee derby.
Neilson’s high-flying Tangerines remain 13 points above nearest challengers Inverness in their quest for the title, having made it nine consecutive home league victories against 10-man Ayr who had player-boss Mark Kerr sent off in 57 minutes.
This was the ideal boost going into this week’s televised showdown with city rivals Dundee, where they will be striving to make it a hat-trick of straight wins over James McPake’s Dark Blues in front of the live cameras.
Sam Stanton broke the deadlock in 42 minutes before Lawrence Shankland’s 57th-minute penalty put them further in front. Nicky Clark secured their latest home Tannadice triumph thanks to his 61st-minute strike, prior to American Ian Harkes’ goal in the dying stages.
Now Neilson has challenged his promotion hopefuls to give their long-suffering supporters something else to shout about heading into 2020.
Neilson said: ‘It’s so important for us, this derby. It’s the big game of the season, without question.
‘We’ve already had two good results against Dundee so we want another one obviously.
‘After this derby, we don’t have another one for about four months so we need to make sure we put a marker down and give the bragging rights to our fans.
‘We’re sitting in a very good position but we have to keep going and get a result next Friday.
‘Normally, in cities like Dundee you get judged on the derby fixtures, so we’ll be ready for it.’
Ayr, who had enjoyed a muchneeded victory over lowly Alloa last weekend, began brightly as Stephen Kelly unleashed a long-range effort which Benjamin Siegrist gathered.
The visitors had settled quickest and their flowing play allowed full-back Daniel Harvie to try his luck with a powerful 12th-minute shot, forcing Siegrist to tip just round the post.
The hosts took the lead against the run of play before the break.
Paul McMullan dispossessed Steven Bell down the left. The winger sped into the box and squared for Stanton who finished expertly from point-blank range.
The league leaders surely couldn’t play any poorer after the break and, within 12 minutes of the restart, they had doubled their advantage.
Kerr caught Stanton just as he was about to pull the trigger to leave referee Greg Aitken with no option but to point to the spot.
Kerr was then shown a second yellow card for dissent, but Shankland took no notice as he retained his composure to sweep a firm penalty high past Ross Doohan and into the net.
The hosts killed the contest soon after. Shankland was this time the provider by stepping in from the right and squaring for Clark to apply the finishing touch from close range.
United didn’t let the tempo drop towards the end. Their depleted visitors got caught in possession, giving playmaker Harkes the space to take a touch and stride forward to rifle a 25-yard shot low past helpless Doohan.
It sent the United fans home for a happy Christmas and counting down the days until their latest eagerly-awaited derby.