Dundee Utd 4
Falkirk 0
League Cup (Group Stage - Section 4)
Dundee UtdDundee Utd |
4 - 04 - 0 |
FalkirkFalkirk |
 |
League Cup (Group Stage - Section 4) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Davie Dodds (5) Davie Dodds (17) Paul Sturrock (73) Graeme Payne (80) |
None. |
| Team Managers | |
|
Jim McLean |
John Hagart |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
John Gardiner Richard Gough Ian Britton Dave Narey Maurice Malpas Derek Stark Paul Hegarty Iain Phillip Davie Dodds Graeme Payne Paul Sturrock |
George Watson Wilson Hoggan Andy Nicol Brian Brown Colin Fowler Gordon Wilson Alan Oliver Willie Herd Gordon Smith Tom Ward Gary Thompson |
| Bench | |
|
John Holt Eamonn Bannon |
Gavin Hendrie Willie Stevenson |
| Substitutions | |
|
Eamonn Bannon for Iain Phillip (40) John Holt for Maurice Malpas (66) |
Gavin Hendrie for Alan Oliver (36) |
| Cautions | |
| None. | None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
D Galloway (Pitlessie) (Referee) |
Match Report
John Gardiner made his Tannadice debut for United, with Sturrock and Dodds leading the line for home side in the League Cup sectional tie.
Even with a strong wind in their faces, United took command from the first whistle. In five minutes Davie Dodds rose to meet a Sturrock cross from the right and his header from 10 yards eluded 'keeper Watson to land high in the net. Keeping up the pressure, Narey fired in a 30 yarder which Watson did well to parry away. It was all one way pressure and Sturrock was next to go close. Racing in to beat the 'keeper to the ball, Sturrock tried a lob from the edge of the box but it dropped just wide. When the striker did get the ball on target moments later from an overhead kick, he was adjudged offside. The Bairns' offside trap was breached in 17 minutes by a brilliant Narey pass. He sent Gough down the right, and Davie Dodds bulleted in the low cross for his second goal. There were two first half subs when Falkirk's Oliver went off injured to be replaced by Hendrie and soon after Bannon replaced Phillip. Dodds had the chance of a hat-trick before the first half finished when Watson smashed a clearance off Sturrock but Dodds failed to convert in front of an open goal.
The second half followed much the same pattern as the first. It was 57 minutes before Gardiner had a save to make. Both Herd and Smith forced the home 'keeper into saves before the hour. At the other end Bannon shot high and then missed a chance laid on by Sturrock. With 66 minutes gone Holt came on for Malpas. Falkirk began to gain more possession but United were still making the more chances. The third goal came for the home side in the 73rd minute. The move started with Payne who played in Britton, who in turn fed Paul Sturrock who cracked in a third from 5 yards. Graeme Payne pounced to make it four from eight yards after a Dodds shot was blocked. That was the end of the scoring meaning that United had secured their 4th consecutive League Cup win, and brought their goal difference to a whacking 16-1. Falkirk were never in the hunt and probably glad to get away with a four goal defeat, considering the almost non-stop punishment they took.
Squad Statistics (as at August 25th, 1982)
| 1982-83 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| John Gardiner (GK) | 24 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Dave Narey | 26 |
|
4 | 3 | 400 | 28 |
| Richard Gough | 20 |
|
4 | - | 53 | 2 |
| Maurice Malpas | 20 |
|
4 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
| Iain Phillip | 31 |
|
4 | - | 136 | 1 |
| Paul Hegarty | 28 |
|
4 | - | 353 | 53 |
| Ian Britton | 28 |
|
4 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Derek Stark | 23 |
|
4 | - | 159 | 3 |
| Paul Sturrock | 25 |
|
4 | 3 | 333 | 105 |
| Graeme Payne | 26 |
|
4 | 2 | 285 | 21 |
| Davie Dodds | 23 |
|
4 | 3 | 179 | 70 |
| John Holt (sub) | 25 |
|
1 | - | 198 | 16 |
| Eamonn Bannon (sub) | 24 |
|
1 | - | 147 | 39 |
League Table (as at August 25th, 1982)
| Pld | W | D | L | +/- | Pts |
|---|
No games played.
| League results since United's last match |
|---|
| None. |
Manager's Programme Notes
Tonight brings us to the last of our home ties in Section 4 of the League Cup and overall can confess to being well satisfied with our progress. Particularly pleasing has been the number of goals scored so far. That fact, however, does not allow us to sit back this evening. As I envisaged at thy start of the season. St Johnstone are proving to be our main threat. Their 6-1 at Brockville was clear evidence that we cannot take our qualification for granted. We must keep the pressure on Alec Rennie's side by continuing to score as many goals as possible with Saturday's visit to Muirton looming on the horizon. Some of the players have not really borne in mind the possibility that goal difference could decide the section. I legitimately feel that we could easily have added another five or six goals to our current total. The players must adopt as professional an approach as. possible and continue to seek goals, no matter the scoreline. Now I must turn to comment on the ills of the game as reported by the media in the opening week of the season. "The magnificent men of the Press" are doing the game a disservice by their constant highlighting of the decline in crowds. It is impossible to draw conclusions on attendance figures unless direct comparisons are made with games, taking into account the same opposition and stage of competition.
Continued prominence by the Press of football's problems, rather than greater coverage about, for example, the number of goals scored, cannot be good for the game. In all of my ten years at Tannadice there have been too few reporters who have sought to report the good aspects of the sport. As far as I am concerned the current state of affairs is ridiculous. If the present trend of reporting continues the clubs will have to reconsider the question of publicly divulging attendances. On the same theme, one Sunday newspaper last weekend published a post-match report of mine but no reporter from that particular paper had, in fact, had the courtesy to contact me after the match in question. So much for the freedom of the Press! To conclude, I welcome John Hagart and his side but must warn them that goals are our prime object tonight. That will be no easy task and patience must be exercised by
both fans and players alike in this quest.