Dundee United 1 - 3 Motherwell: Pernis blunder absolves Higdon

United comeback is scuppered after under-fire Well striker

HOW quickly fortunes turn. Last weekend Michael Higdon was shouldering the misery of a sub-par performance and hearing of his own side’s fans. Yesterday he turned into the hero and it was Dundee United’s Dusan Pernis who will have left the ground a disconsolate figure.

The Slovakian keeper was a sorry sight as he trudged off the Tannadice turf at the interval, having gifted Motherwell a two-goal lead in the final seconds of the first half. It was all the more painful given the way his team-mates had edged back into the contest after an ineffectual start.

One goal down but in the hunt for an equaliser, he messed up a Keith Watson passback, playing a weak clearance to the feet of Higdon. The Motherwell striker could have looked more grateful, though, dithering on the shot offered to him. He took a couple of touches before slotting the ball past the rattled keeper from an angle, the ball going in off the post.

Even at that stage it looked like it would be enough to grant the visitors the victory they needed to move up the league standings.

Motherwell had started the game in the knowledge that three points would elevate them to second place in the SPL, albeit having played two games more than Celtic. But it is a status their displays this season have merited. While there have been one or two wobbles, when they have clicked as a unit they have been impressive. As individuals winning their own battles and as an industrious team, yesterday they controlled the match and reaped the reward.

“I said to the lads that there are no guarantees in football but if they work as well as they did as a team unit then there’s more chance of them winning the game than not,” said a contented Motherwell boss, Stuart McCall. “If we are at it and getting about people then we have enough ability in the side to go and win games and so it proved.”

The opener came in the 14th minute when Keith Lasley was more alert and assertive than any of the United men. Tom Hateley had charged down the right flank and cut a ball back into the box from the byline. Lasley showed the most desire to meet it, leaving Scotland new boy Danny Swanson standing as he dashed in from deep to lash it home.

At that stage there was little in the way of clear-cut chances or goalmouth incidents at either end but the visitors were in command. United tried to rectify that, taking off Ryan Dow and replacing him with Lauri Dalla Valle as they tweaked things tactically, the Finn lining up alongside Jon Daly in a dual attack. It ignited something in the home team, and prompted their best spell in the match, but the substitute, on loan from Fulham, failed to convert their best chance, a header in the 40th minute.

Five minutes later, calamity struck in the United box and any glimmer of a comeback died. Not that Higdon was complaining. The big Scouser was booed off the pitch against Aberdeen last week, so scoring twice was the ideal way to bounce back. “Three points was the main thing but two goals this week to top it off was definitely better than last week for me. I looked back at the DVD of the game [last week] and I’m surprised [the fans] didn’t give me more stick.

“Hopefully the fans will enjoy their pint tonight and realise that I am a good player. Hopefully that’s the tables turning.”

His second goal came from the spot in the 64th minute. The second half was a tale of three penalty shouts. The two United appealed for, claiming handball against Hateley and then Tim Clancy, were waved aside without hesitation by the referee, but when Garry Kenneth felled Nicky Law in the box, matters were more clear-cut. Although there were candidates vying to take the kick, no-one was going to wrestle the ball from Higdon. “Jenno [Steve Jennings] came over to me but I was like ‘on your bike, lad’ There was no chance. I just put it down and scored.”

United boss Peter Houston had no gripe with the decision. He admitted his team had been out-played and out-contested. And not even Daly’s 77th-minute strike could serve as any kind of consolation. It was a cruel irony that having boasted this week that Daly had never netted and been on a losing side, that fate should befall him. The ball in from Paul Dixon wasn’t cleared by the Motherwell rearguard and the skipper was there to stab it into the net.

“It was a poor performance from us,” admitted Houston. “Even before we lost the first goal I thought they were hungrier than us. I have no excuses, we were well beaten.”