Much of the first half was illuminated by good attacking football from a Motherwell side that seemed to relish passing the ball on the slick surface. In that period we rarely resorted to the uncultured punt up the park but instead took time and care to complete a pass.
Craigan and Reynolds formed a firm backstop and the rest felt free to explore the opposition half. Our midfield controlled the game and fed the front runners who were keen to have a pop. The only disappointment was that we failed to see our men on the scg how ore sheet.
Fortunately the opposition were forced into conceding a couple of own goals. The team has no reason to feel embarrassed about the way they won the game, it was clear that we were the better team. "They were the better team and created more chances," said their manager. "It was 27 minutes before Jon Daly had a shot at goal; that's not the United I know." He added that we could expect to see a different United side on Tuesday.
While it is unusual for us to win a game without scoring it has happened before – notably at Tannadice in 1994. We had not beaten Dundee United on their home patch for 18 years, a barren spell of 32 games when we played them in a league fixture on Saturday 12 February. We were on the back foot for most of the game and Seib Dykstra had kept us in the contest. Dave Bowman and Freddy van der Hoorn delivered us the points when both headed own goals. The game was won 2-1.
It seems likely that Keith Lasley will be a spectator on Tuesday when we try to reach the semi-final of the CIS Cup. Let’s hope his hamstring injury recovers quickly. He’ll be cheered if we progress – even if it takes another own goal to give us a win!