Shankland conjures up Tangerine dream
DUNDEE UNITED 2
Shankland (33), Connolly (65) ST MIRREN 1
Sporle (53) Lawrence Shankland returned for Dundee United against St Mirren.
And the Tangerine goal machine produced the goods to set his side on the road to a valuable victory.
Shankland put United ahead out of next to nothing after an opening half-hour in which Saints were the better side.
But, for all their chances, the Paisley men couldn’t produce a moment of quality to compare with the one United’s talisman produced to open his career Premiership goal account.
Adrian Sporle stretched the Tangerines’ lead after they exploded out of the traps in the second half before Saints pulled one back.
But United had done the damage to Jim Goodwin’s side already – and the win moved them into sixth place, three points clear of their opponents.
Shankland’s return to United’s starting XI was no surprise.
Despite the striker’s lack of game time this season, his ability to change games was
always going to prove too great a temptation for United boss Micky Mellon to ignore.
With just four goals to their name this season before yesterday’s clash, the Tangerines have been sorely lacking Shankland’s sharpness and killer instinct.
But the United striker, with only a 30-minute cameo last week at Ibrox behind him since opening day, started quietly, much like his team-mates.
After conceding nine goals while scoring none in their last three games, the Tangerines would have seen St Mirren’s visit to Tannadice as a chance to get back on track.
But Jim Goodwin’s side were purposeful from the off and racked up a number of early chances.
First Kyle Mcallister curled a fine, 25-yard free-kick a mere whisker wide of Benji Siegrist’s left post, then Sam Foley saw a long-range effort fly over.
And United had Siegrist to thank another twice inside the first 20 minutes for keeping the scores level.
The Tangerines stopper did well to punch a deflected Mcallister cross off the lurking Lee Erwin’s boot, then saved his centre-halves’ bacon after they let a Mcallister cross bounce in the box, holding Erwin’s snap effort from close range.
But, as the half-hour approached, United started to come to life.
Logan Chalmers, Nicky Clark, Ian Harkes and Shankland all sparked at the same time and, after a few tickles at the St Mirren back line, the breakthrough arrived on 33 minutes. A half-cleared Chalmers corner was sent into the net by Shankland via a stunning, hooked, over-the-shoulder volley.
And the striker immediately set out in search of more.
United really found their rhythm at the start of the second half.
With Chalmers stretching the game, committing Saints defenders – and beating them – out wide, United built up a head of steam.
Zlamal stopped Shankland, then Clark cracked the upright after a neat one-two with his strike partner.
But the second goal arrived from Adrian Sporle, who perfectly placed a curling effort into the far corner.
With Saints toiling, Richard Tait heaped further pressure on his team-mates after seeing red for a late challenge on Chalmers.
Substitute Dylan Connolly gave the Paisley men hope when he pounced on Mark Reynolds’ slack defending to pull a goal back.
But it was United that came closest to adding to their account, with Sporle and Declan Glass coming close late on.