EUR ALMOST THERE BOYS
Courts joy as young guns sit on verge of Continental football
Tam Courts praised his young guns after Dylan Levitt’s second goal in as manygamestook Dundee United to the brink of European football.
The win left Courts’ side four points clear of Motherwell and three ahead of Ross County in the race for a spot in the Europa Conference League next term.
Courts said: “This was one of the first games that we said ‘that’s a must-win’ to maintain fourth position and heighten the chances of us getting that European spot.
“Motherwell were dangerous on the counter-attack and when they were going direct but we played some nice stuff and also looked dangerous.
“I’m delighted for the clean sheet. I thought we were really controlled after we went in front and we played some lovely stuff at times.
“And on top of that we started with three academy graduates and Lewis Neilson at 18 years old had his first victory in a tangerine shirt.”
The United boss threw in Archie Meekison alongside Dylan Levitt and Charl ie Mulgrew in a makeshift midfield, due to Ian Harkes, Peter Pawlett, Calum Butcher and Kevin McDonald all missing out.
Courts added: “The last time Charlie played central midfield was probably for Scotland five or six years ago.
“It was a bit of a calculated risk. It’s where we are at with the availability of players at the moment.
“He gave us real balance and a measured performance and his experience was a part of the reason.”
Mother wel l by pa ssed Mulgrew and Co as they took route one for the first chance of the game. Keeper Liam Kelly’s long kick was misjudged by Liam Smith and Ross Tierney got in behind him.
He cut inside and cracked a shot past Benji Siegrist but the ball cannoned back off the post.
The woodwork came to United’s rescue again after Callum Slattery picked the pocket of Meekison.
This time Kaiyne Woolery was on the end of the move but his effort cannoned off the bar.
Woolery was then denied by Siegrist when he pounced on Neilson’s short pass back.
United bucked the trend when they took the lead eight minutes before the break.
Meekison’s lovely back heel found Levitt, who exchanged passes with Tony Watt before f iring in a shot which was deflected over the head of Kelly. It put United in a position of strength but in recent weeks they have had trouble when it comes to protecting a lead.
This time there were no such issues, although they weren’t really troubled by a Well team you would have expected a lot more urgency from.
They weren’t helped when boss Graham Alexander had to re-shuffle after Juhani Ojala went off injured and was replaced by Joe Efford.
The second half was untidy but the Tannadice side spent most of it on the front foot.
Scot t McMann beat Mark O’Hara but his low s h o t wa s gathered by Kelly.
Sub Efford did show a bit more for the Steelman with a low shot that was pushed wide by Siegrist. There was a nasty collision between team-mates Smith and Marc McNulty that saw the United striker limp off to be replaced by Nicky Clark.
Motherwell thought they had equal ised when Slattery’s free- kick was met by Ricki Lamie but he headed wide. The Fir Park side pushed in the final minutes and it took a decent stop from Siegrist to push a header from Tierney wide.
United defended resolutely and almost got a second but Kelly somehow changed d irect ion in mid- air as he clawed out a def lected effort from young Ross Graham.