Dundee United 1 - 1 Kilmarnock: Danny Swanson strike brings saves United

SOME goals are worthy of winning three points on their own. Unfortunately for Rory McKeown, Danny Swanson's strike came into that category just as much as his own did and, as a result, both teams had to settle for a point apiece.

Despite their home advantage and the fact they finished higher last season, Dundee United were happier with the draw. Swanson and Garry Kenneth were unable to start the game because of injury, and a third substitute, Gary Mackay-Steven, could not finish it for the same reason, meaning they played the final 15 minutes or so with ten men. In those circumstances, and especially after being knocked out of the Europa League in midweek, this was a respectable end to a difficult week.

Kilmarnock, tipped for relegation in some quarters, were disappointed not to have got their SPL campaign off to a winning start, and on this showing should be safe by a reasonable margin. Composed and well organised, they may have been deprived of some key players from last season, but perhaps have found a better blend for this campaign.

Although United never threatened to get off to the dynamic start which saw them score twice in the opening five minutes in midweek, they held sway in the opening quarter of an hour, patiently probing for an opening. Kilmarnock favoured a more direct approach when in possession, and it nearly paid off for them at the end of those 15 minutes, when Manuel Pascali set James Dayton off on a run down the right.

• SPL: Keep up-to-date with your team on Twitter

• SPL team guide: Dundee United

• SPL team guide: Kilmarnock

Dayton got all the approach work right as he powered on into the box, but his shot went wide of United goalkeeper Dusan Pernis's far post.

Minutes later the home team should have opened the scoring after finding the opening they had been looking for, when Paul Dixon's cross from the left evaded the Kilmarnock defence and allowed David Goodwillie a clear shot on goal. But the striker, surprised that the ball had been allowed to reach him, reacted late, and sidefooted the ball wide.

United continued to have the majority of possession, but were fortunate not to go behind ten minutes before half-time when they failed to deal properly with a corner from Dayton. Pernis saved Gary Harkins' header but was unable to hold on to the ball, which in the resultant melee broke back to Harkins. His shot was goalbound, but was inadvertently blocked on the line by Pascali.

At the other end, the Kilmarnock captain's colleague Zdenek Kroca displayed defending of a more orthodox kind to keep out a snapshot from Stuart Armstrong after Russell had sent a teasing cross into the box from the right. It was the last chance of a respectable if unmemorable first half, and both teams were aware they would need something more than mere endeavour if they were going to get off the mark in the second half. It was Kilmarnock who got that something more, barely a minute after the restart, in the shape of a shot from more than 30 yards by McKeown. United must have thought the danger had passed when they cleared a corner from the right, but the teenager had other ideas, scoring with a first-time shot which appeared to swerve on its way past Pernis.

McKeown had been even further out than Sebastian Dudek when he scored what turned out to be the winner for Slask Wroclaw three days earlier, but at least on this occasion United had more time in which to mount a fightback. Peter Houston brought Swanson on in place of Russell in a bid to kickstart that recovery, and the winger's more incisive play soon began to cause problems for the Kilmarnock defence.

United were looking far livelier by this time, but they were running the risk of pressing too far forward, as the impressive Dayton showed with a shot on the run following a swift break up the right. In such a close contest, a second goal for Kilmarnock would surely have ended the home team's hopes of a comeback, but just two minutes after that effort Swanson brought the teams level.

A free-kick awarded for a handball was in a promising position some 25 yards out, but the substitute's initial, curled effort was too soft, and was easily blocked by the wall. When the ball rebounded to him, he opted for less subtlety and more power, scoring with a low drive into the right corner of Cammy Bell's net.

United threatened to take a grip on the game after that, but were hampered by the injury to Mackay-Steven. In addition, crucially, Kilmarnock did not allow themselves to be pinned back inside their own half. They rode their luck in stoppage time when Goodwillie was through on Bell, but the striker tried to take the ball round the keeper instead of shooting, and the chance to break the deadlock was gone.

Dundee United: Pernis, Dillon, Dixon, Watson, Douglas (Mackay-Steven 61), Rankin, Flood, Armstrong (Kenneth 46), Russell (Swanson 57), Daly, Goodwillie. Subs not used: Banks, Severin, Allan, Dow.

Kilmarnock: Bell, Clancy, Fowler, Ada, Kelly, Dayton, Harkins (Silva 65), Kroca, Hutchinson, McKeown (Hay 71), Pascali. Subs not used: Letheren, O'Leary, Gros, Pursehouse, Fisher.