St Johnstone 0 - 1 Dundee Utd: Garry Kenneth keen to reacquaint himself with Hampden

Published on Sunday 7 February 2010 23:21

FIVE years have passed, and almost an entire team has left Tannadice, since Dundee United last reached a Scottish Cup final. Now, after playing a pivotal role in Saturday's well-deserved win over St Johnstone, the one survivor from that side which lost to Celtic in 2005 is increasingly confident of reaching the showpiece event this season.

"It means everything to the club to get back to Hampden," said centre-half Garry Kenneth, who also played in the 2008 League Cup final loss to Rangers. "I've experienced finals and I want the younger lads in the team like Goodie (David Goodwillie] to experience them too. I thought at the time it would be a regular thing and it's something I'd love to experience again."

Of course there was a time when it was a regular thing – in the 1980s United reached four Scottish Cup finals and lost every one. They eventually won a final at the seventh attempt, in 1994, but that defeat in 2005 took their record to one win from eight – a statistic which really should be better given their prominence in recent decades.

They hardly expect an easy passage through the next two rounds, but if they play as efficiently in those coming matches as they did here, they have as good a chance as anyone of winning the competition. This first Scottish Cup tie between the teams in Perth may only have been won by a strike which followed a goalmouth scramble in which St Johnstone thought their keeper Graeme Smith had been fouled, but the margin between the teams was a good deal wider than the scoreline might indicate.

On a heavy pitch, and following their midweek elimination by Rangers from the Co-operative Insurance Cup, St Johnstone lacked the sparkle of their opponents, and did well to stay in contention right until the third minute of stoppage time, when substitute Paul Sheerin headed over from a free-kick. After conceding seven goals in their previous two matches – one of them against St Johnstone – and scoring 11 in their last three, United knew they had to tighten up, and they did so impressively.

"We got the upper hand," added Kenneth, who could have moved to Blackpool last month but decided he was happy where he was. "Our midfield did brilliantly to get the second ball, and for us to get back to not conceding goals was important."

They may well have conceded one after quarter of an hour, when the home team had a strong penalty claim turned down after Jon Daly had taken out Murray Davidson. By that stage, however, Goodwillie had already shown his menace, and for the rest of the half he was a constant danger. A fifth-minute run along the goal-line which ended in his shot being saved by Smith was the striker's first significant intervention of the afternoon, and by midway through the first half he had also had decent chances with a header and another shot.

Danny Swanson and Prince Buaben had scoring opportunities during that period as well, but Goodwillie's status as the most likely breaker of the deadlock was confirmed just before the break. Seven or eight bodies clustered around Smith as Craig Conway's corner from the left came over, and when the ball broke to the United striker he thumped it high into the net from four yards.

The contest would have been over seven minutes into the second half when a lucky ricochet put Buaben through on Smith, but the keeper got a hand to the midfielder's shot and it went out for a corner. St Johnstone then enjoyed their best spell of the match, and substitute Peter MacDonald came close to equalising after being played in by Filipe Morais. MacDonald rounded Dusan Pernis, but his shot from wide out on the left was stopped short of the line by Paul Dixon.

United's substitutes themselves had an impact later in the game, with both Damien Casalinuovo and Greg Cameron having chances to wrap up the win. The former shot too high seven minutes from time, and Scott Robertson saw his shot come back off the bar in the 90th minute. With four minutes of stoppage time, St Johnstone were able to mount a last-ditch attack, but the United defence held firm to the end.

At the end of a disappointing week for Derek McInnes' side, some consolation came in the steady play of Michael Duberry, signed after being released by Wycombe. The former Chelsea and Leeds man was caught on the hop early on by Goodwillie's pace, but considering he had not played for a couple of months this was an assured performance. "It's his first game in a while – I think he'll get better physically," said St Johnstone captain Jody Morris, a good friend and former team-mate of Duberry's, who was instrumental in bringing the 34-year-old defender to Scotland. "We were close at Chelsea and Leeds. I class him as one of my best mates."

That friendship only extends so far, however, as Morris laughed when asked if Duberry was staying with him. "No. I couldn't have in my house now. He's too annoying," he joked. "It's a new challenge and one he's embracing."

The only remaining challenge for St Johnstone now is to get into the top six – something which is within their grasp provided they do well in their games in hand. United, meanwhile, are still fighting on two fronts, and with increasing confidence in both.