Kilmarnock 1 - 1 Dundee United: Justice is done as late Dixon strike salvages point for United in dominant display

JUST when it looked as though Dundee United had contrived to take nothing from a match that should have been won, and won easily, their faith in justice was restored.

Somehow trailing to a brilliant individual goal by James Dayton, they were a minute into time added on when Paul Dixon barged forward from his berth at left-back. Bursting past a string of exhausted opponents, he had enough left in his tank to cut a low shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the net. You could say they deserved a point, but they didn’t. They deserved all three. Kenny Shiels, the Kilmarnock manager, said that his players had been on their knees with 20 minutes left, a state of fatigue he attributed to a week of training on artificial pitches, but in truth, they had been given the runaround on a heavy, rutted playing surface, especially during a first half in which they were lucky not to be blown away.

It was a remarkable opening period for United, an eye-catching reminder of their long-term potential. When Peter Houston, their manager, was asked afterwards how he felt in the wake of Dixon’s late equaliser, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “If it had been 4-0 after 15 minutes, nobody could have complained. If it had been 6-0 after 30 minutes, nobody could have complained. That was our best performance of the season. I actually feel it is like a defeat because we didn’t win that match.”

With Willo Flood relegated to the bench, Johnny Russell started alongside Jon Daly up front, but their failure to find the net before half-time left even the Kilmarnock supporters scratching their heads. Perhaps scarred by the two-goal deficit from which they had to recover in Inverness seven days earlier, the visitors launched an assault on Cammy Bell that was relentless, adventurous and full of variety.

Headers, shots, intricate passing manoeuvres: United tried everything in a 45-minute blast that bore no relation to the kind of stultifying fare we too often suffer in this league of ours. Had it not been for the Kilmarnock goalkeeper, and a sizeable slice of ill fortune, they would have scored enough in the opening half hour to win three matches. First there was John Rankin’s swerving shot, beaten away by Bell. Then, Gavin Gunning’s looping header was tipped on to the crossbar, prompting a scramble that was halted only by the referee’s whistle. By the time Jon Daly’s angled shot had been blocked, after a reverse pass by Russell, United were wondering why they were not three up, never mind one. Sure, there were occasional threats at the other end. Dean Shiels’ rising shot glanced off the crossbar, Paul Heffernan poked wide and Dixon appeared to push Dayton in the box, but in all honesty, the home side could hardly claim to be aggrieved, so relieved were they to be on level terms. At the other end, the attack continued, with Stuart Armstrong’s shot bouncing off the base of a post and across the six-yard box. Daly, meanwhile, found time to pass up another couple of opportunities. First, he slapped the ball wide after a jinking run by Russell, then his sliding frame failed to connect with Dixon’s low cross to the back post.

United were entitled to be proud of their approach, but as usual at times like these, there was a suspicion that their failure to take advantage would prove costly. And so it proved just six minutes into the second half, when Dayton opened the scoring with a contender for goal of the season. There was no apparent danger when he collected the ball wide on the right, but after drifting inside Dixon and glancing up towards the far corner of the net, he let rip with a breathtaking left-foot shot that soared beyond the goalkeeper’s flailing hand.

It triggered a second half that was altogether more even than the first, although United still fashioned the better chances. Gary Mackay-Steven’s dancing runs down the right unsettled Kilmarnock, but it was Dixon on the other side who did the most damage. He set up chances for Russell and Daly – neither of whom hit the target – before deciding in the end to go it alone. Even Shiels admitted that he was in no position to complain about the outcome.