ROBSON FULL OF REGRET
Left-back says United didn’t do themselves justice in semi-final
THE goal that sealed their fate shouldn’t have counted. That’s certain. But this wasn’t really a hard-luck story. And, to his credit, Jamie Robson didn’t attempt to portray it as one.
For left-back Robson and the rest of the Dundee United players, frustration over the match officials was more than equalled by despondency at their own shortcomings in the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Hibernian. Regret accompanied the squad all the way from Hampden to Tayside.
‘It was a tough journey back up the road,’ admitted Robson. ‘Getting to a semi-final was good but the disappointing thing was that we knew we were nowhere near our best on Saturday.’
The 23-year-old sought solace in things more important than football. Returning home to see baby son Rueben at least allowed him to shift his mind away from what had gone wrong inside the national stadium.
‘It was a good spirit-lifter to see my son and my girlfriend, Holly,’ added Robson. ‘They were both waiting for me.
‘I fed the wee man and it helped to take my mind off things. It was a bit too early for him to watch the game but he had his Dundee United kit on.’
Sadly, the mini strip will not be required on May 22. Robson will be at home with his young family when the final trophy of the season is decided. On Saturday, United simply didn’t do enough to merit a return to Hampden.
Micky Mellon picked the exact same starting line-up as the quarter-final success over Aberdeen two weeks previously. That hugely impressive 3-0 triumph at Pittodrie was their best performance of the season, full of slick movement, clinical finishing and tactical control.
Something similar was needed again. But United didn’t click. From the moment Kevin Nisbet expertly steered Hibs in front after 27 minutes, their opponents looked short on answers for a response.
There was insufficient evidence to suggest the tale would have been radically different had Christian Doidge’s 58th-minute strike — at the end of a slick move — been rightly chalked off.
That doesn’t mean the error can be written off, though. Assistant referee Alan Mulvanny was perfectly positioned, yet missed Doidge being half-a-yard offside. Better has to be expected.
Even so, United never really convinced either before or after that blunder. It was a flat display. Mellon suggested afterwards that his team had lacked the ‘personality’ needed to thrive on a big stage.
‘We didn’t hit the levels we know we could have,’ Robson concurred. ‘All the boys know we weren’t at it.
‘That is also football. There are times you are at it and sometimes you aren’t. We need to take our chances and be a bit more clinical at times as well.
‘I couldn’t really put my finger on it. It was just one of those days. If we had scored first and gone 1-0 up, then it would have been a different game.
‘They got the goal and that was a bit of a dampener and then they got the second, which was offside as well. That was the end of the game.’
As Robson identified, United’s best hope lay in getting the first goal. It could have wrought psychological havoc on a Hibs side that had lost two semi-finals in the previous six months to teams below them in the league.
There were flickers of openings to do so. Lawrence Shankland’s through-ball gave Ian Harkes a sight of goal, only for the American’s poor touch to ruin the opening.
Then Harkes got on the end of a Marc McNulty cross. With the
ball fractionally behind him, however, it was impossible to get sufficient power or direction.
Mellon’s side looked okay at that early point. With McNulty seeking to exploit space between Josh Doig and Paul Hanlon, it seemed they might just be able to reprise elements of the performance against Aberdeen.
But Hibs are a different animal. One with sharper teeth. Nisbet’s opening goal was exquisite, yet had its roots in a United error after right-back Liam Smith failed to head clear a long, angled ball forward.
Going two down forced Mellon into a change of shape and delivered a couple of late chances to make things interesting.
Arguably the best fell to Robson on his weaker right foot as he guided a cross from Smith fractionally wide of Matt Macey’s left-hand post.
‘That was how the game went,’ sighed Robson. ‘We were 2-0 down and we were trying to throw everything at it to try and get back into the game.
‘It opened up for us to create chances but we weren’t clinical enough. Even myself, I had a good chance and I should have scored. That just summed up our day.’
Mellon was keen to remind everyone afterwards of how far United had already come. This was a largely a Championship squad, he stressed. Securing another season of top-flight football with some ease could not be discounted as an achievement.
It’s a solid enough argument. And one to build upon next term. The hope is of earning another Hampden experience that doesn’t pass them by.
‘The manager was gutted as well,’ said Robson. ‘He has put a lot into it and he wanted us to get to the final and do the best for the club.
‘He was disappointed and we are better than we showed. That was the general feeling in the dressing room.
‘It is good to get to a semi-final but it is just disappointing when you put on a performance like that. We just need to regroup and go again next season. We will be looking to finish higher up the league and try to get to a final.’