Heroic Siegrist hailed as weary United dig deep to hold off Jags
THOMAS COURTS admitted his team was on its last legs as a series of brilliant Benji Siegrist saves kept Partick at bay in a Firhill quagmire.
The Dundee United head coach hailed his keeper and a resolute defensive display for standing strong on their eighth outing in 26 days since play resumed following the winter break.
A quarter-final berth was booked by a superb Ian Harkes strike — the only shot on target mustered by the visitors.
But, on the balance of play, the very least that former Tannadice boss Ian McCall’s men merited was the opportunity to further test the Premiership side’s stamina in extra-time.
After seeing off Kilmarnock at Rugby Park after 120 minutes in the previous round, Courts conceded another Championship promotion contender had given them a serious test on a shocking surface.
‘We anticipated the pitch being tricky — then we arrived and saw just how difficult the conditions were,’ said Courts.
‘The times we did try to play, we got caught out. But we got the breakthrough, acclimatised and saw the job through.
‘We looked leggy at times, Partick are a very energetic team used to playing on the surface.
‘Our guys defended their box really well — and had to. The goalkeeper was tremendous.
‘We knew there would be some thrills and spills with the conditions and that we might need to rely on his shot-stopping. That was very evident.
‘We’d have loved to play better but I thought the fans were tremendous. When we looked like a fatigued team, they gave us a real push.’
A fourth clean sheet in a row was hard work for Siegrist. The Swiss is out contract at the end of this campaign yet juggles his responsibilities impeccably.
He’s succeeding in keeping United in contention for the Europa League qualifiers via their fourth place in the Premiership while stirring up sizeable interest in his services from other clubs.
Even his time-wasting was so good, as United struggled to stop Thistle’s waves of second-half attacks, that it attracted a booking from John Beaton and gave his boys a breather.
The excellent Scott Tiffoney was most affected by Siegrist, a rivalry that began early on with a dipping right-foot drive and fingertip save as Thistle stated intent to give United a most uncomfortable day.
Despite being overrun in the middle of the park, it was a central midfielder who struck the winner 11 minutes from the break.
A delivery from the right wasn’t cleared and the ball dropped ever so kindly to Harkes 22 yards out and he lashed an unstoppable leftfoot shot past Jamie Sneddon.
Siegrist thwarted Tiffoney and Kevin Holt as the one-way traffic carried into the second period.
Only shortly after Scott McMann replaced Kevin McDonald and Calum Butcher was pressed into midfield did United briefly drag themselves up the churned pitch.
Tony Watt chipped wastefully over, however, and once McCall reached to his bench for fresher legs the Partick pressure resumed.
Cammy Smith’s first activity as substitute was to swivel and shoot from 12 yards then stand stunned as Siegrist stretched full-length left to defy him.
Ross MacIver and Ross Docherty cleared the crossbar with efforts. And tireless Tiffoney tried one more time, easing past two defenders and firing near post, only for Siegrist to expertly close the opening.
The Partick support applauded their side off the pitch and McCall joined in.
On this form, his side can make the most of their Championship games in hand and award themselves a serious shot at playing United in league action next term.
McCall said: ‘I mentioned to the players before the game that this is not a free hit for us.
‘Because our supporters think we should be beating Dundee United here — and we should have done because we were comfortably better than them. Miles better than them.
‘The pitch is hard, I get that. But we played a lot of football. Our midfield was so dominant.
‘For a winger, the level of consistency Scott Tiffoney shows is unbelievable
‘Because I played there — and there’s no way I was ever that consistent.
‘We didn’t make so many chances in the first half but the goal, which was a great strike from Harkes, came totally against the run of play.
‘Then, in the second half, we just battered them. But, ultimately, it is a cup tie and you just want to win. So it’s good luck to Dundee United in the quarter-final.’
Opposite number Courts also reserved praise for 20-year-old defender Ross Graham.
He was an impressive part of the successful defensive stand on
only his fifth appearance since returning to United from a loan spell at Dunfermline.
‘It’s been really challenging for him, playing five games in such a short space of time,’ said Courts.
‘It’s a lot for him to cope with mentality, physically and emotionally.
‘So to be part of a resolute defensive unit here and keep a clean sheet, there’s a lot to be said for his character.’