United’s away daze broken by McNulty magic
WHEN you have waited five months to watch an away league win, then another six minutes was never going to make that much of a difference.
Dundee United’s travelling support has been one of the most patient in the league given their side’s form on the road but they were well rewarded here come the end.
Trailing to a Jay Henderson first-half strike, the
Tannadice side completely turned it around in the second period, drawing level through Dylan Levitt and hitting the crossbar three times.
Just when it looked like 10-man St Mirren — who had lost goalkeeper Jak Alnwick to a red card late in the game — were about to hold on to grab an ill-deserved point, Marc McNulty pounced to grab a precious winning goal.
The strike lifts United up to fourth place in the table and could be crucial as the race for the top six hots up with just two games to go before the split.
‘I felt this was a must-win game for both teams because of the way the fixtures were landing elsewhere today,’ said visiting manager Tam Courts. ‘And that’s why we were determined to push on and get the victory in the end.
‘What a time and what a moment it was to score. And it’s a huge opportunity for us to go on to finish the season strongly.
‘We’ve only been beaten twice in about 10 or 11 games, so we’ve been pretty resolute. But, at this stage of the season, three points are pretty significant.
‘We made a couple of changes that naturally helped us and once we got back to level terms I felt there was only going to be one team that was going to win the match.’
St Mirren remain in ninth spot and could have no complaints following a lacklustre second-half performance.
‘I didn’t think we deserved anything,’ said their manager Stephen Robinson. ‘We didn’t pass the ball well enough in the second half when United started turning us. We didn’t defend well enough and were taking touches when we shouldn’t have been.
‘I think it was fear. We didn’t play or pass the ball, so if you’re not going to do that, you’re going to play the next 47 minutes defending and we didn’t defend well enough when we needed to.’
Any goal would have been welcomed in this fixture given the previous three meetings at this ground had finished scoreless, but it was a spectacular early strike that ended the drought.
Henderson was only in the starting line-up due to an injury to Jordan Jones but he made the most of the opportunity, running on to Connor Ronan’s pass before thrashing an effort that Benjamin Siegrist could only wave at.
The equaliser was just as special as United poured on the pressure in the second half. Levitt benefited from a ricochet but after that it was all skill as the Manchester United loanee lashed a shot in via the far post that Alnwick got nowhere near.
McNulty had already seen a diving header cleared off the line by Richard Tait at that point before Nicky Clark thumped a 25-yard effort off the crossbar.
With St Mirren struggling to get out of their half, Ryan Edwards’ shot on the turn from a corner then struck the bar again before Alnwick took out Tony Watt as the pair ran out to contest a long ball forward and ref Nick Walsh produced the red card.
It looked as if United were going to run out of time but McNulty fastened on to the dropping ball after Clark had again struck the bar to net.