The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Another giant leap for United in title bid
Out-of-this-world leaders strike back to record best start to season since 1969
Neil Armstrong was getting fitted out for his space suit the last time Dundee United started a league season at home as well as this one.
To use a familiar football term, they must be over the moon.
While the American astronaut was gearing up to take one giant leap for mankind later that year, the Tangerines were beating St Johnstone 4-2 at Tannadice on January 1 1969.
The scorers that Ne’erday were Kenny Cameron (two), Davie Hogg and Ian Mitchell.
It meant they had won every single one of their nine home league matches of that season.
That feat – United’s, not Armstrong’s – would go unmatched until Saturday, when goals from Sam Stanton, Lawrence Shankland (penalty), Nicky Clark and Ian Harkes recorded a 4-0 success over Ayr United.
It was Ayr, though, who were out of this world in the first half. The visitors must have been have wondering how on earth they were losing 1-0 at half-time.
It is what it is, however, and United seem to always find a way to win.
Sam Stanton’s tap-in after Paul McMullan had robbed Ayr’s Steven Bell of the ball gave them the rather fortuitous advantage and they built on it.
They were awarded a penalty on 57 minutes, a decision that led to a double whammy for Ayr.
Stanton collected the ball inside the visitors’ box then turned and tried to shoot. His leg was clattered by the boot of opposition player-manager Mark Kerr.
Former Tannadice midfielder Kerr was eventually shown a straight red card for something he said to referee Greg Aitken.
Kerr would subsequently fail to show up for the post-match media conference, probably keen to avoid further sanction for unwise words.
Shankland, up against his old team, stayed away from the furore before stepping up to score his 21st goal of the season for Robbie Neilson’s men.
It was all United now and they scored again on 61 minutes when Clark swept the ball into the net after Shankland’s cutback found him.
On 81 minutes, it should have been 4-0 when Shankland found himself right in front of goal but, to the astonishment of everyone inside the stadium, he headed wide.
That scoreline did become a reality three minutes from time when Harkes sent a low drive flying into the net from 25 yards. It was the best finish of the day and it was nice to see the midfielder celebrate with a wave to his family, who were over from the USA to visit.
As well as the aforementioned perfect home league record, United have now won nine games on the bounce and go into Friday’s Dundee derby at Tannadice looking unstoppable at the top of the Championship.
Who would bet against them now that they will be sitting down for Christmas dinner with a 13-point advantage over second-placed Inverness Caley Thistle still intact?
Goalscorer Harkes, who was also on target in the first home clash with the Dark Blues back in August when the Tangerines ran out 6-2 winners, is now relishing the third city contest of the campaign with United already two up.
The American said: “We know these two home games against Ayr and Dundee would be massive for us.
“We got through the first one and hopefully we can now deal with the derby.
“It is the next game that matters now and that’s against Dundee.
“It’s pretty simple – we have to keep going and get another three points on Friday.
“Of course, it’s going to be tough. “Every time we play them they are going to be up for it,” added Harkes.
“In the city you want the bragging rights and we have had them. They will want to get back at us.
“They are going to be hoping to climb the table so we need to be ready for them.
“I am also expecting it to be fast because it always is in these matches. It is hectic in the first five or 10 minutes then, hopefully, it settles down.
“We have to forget about the last couple of derbies, even though they went well for us, and focus on this game.
“The atmosphere at the last derby here was unreal.
“It has been a massive thing to have the fans behind us and hopefully they will be right behind us on Friday again. I imagine they will be.”
United boss Neilson is also looking forward to a post-Christmas cracker against the Dark Blues, who have won their last two matches against Dunfermline and Partick Thistle.
He said: “It’s so important for us this derby.
“It is the big game of the season without question.
“We have already had two good results against Dundee already 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 are sitting in a very good position but we have to keep going and get a result next Friday night.”
“Normally, in cities like Dundee you get judged on the derby fixtures so we will be ready for it.”