Hamilton 0
Dundee Utd 1
League (SPL)

Match Report

Peter Houston faced a wide range of selection problems ahead of this one and it was all change up front as United went with Danny Cadamarteri and Johnny Russell to lead the line while the usual front two Jon Daly and David Goodwillie dropped to the bench. Sean Dillon again partnered Garry Kenneth in the centre of defence.

The match nearly got off to the worst possible start for United when Dougie Imrie headed into the net after only a minute but referee Calum Murray adjudged that there had been an infraction in the build up involving Mario Paixao. Hamilton continued to exert pressure in the opening stages but failed to create any clear-cut opportunities on what was proving to be a very slippery pitch as players continually struggled to keep their feet. Easily the best chance of the first 45 minutes fell to United’s Scott Robertson on 22 minutes. A Paul Dixon throw in was allowed to run through to the United midfielder but, bearing down on goal, he sliced his shot well wide from around 15 yards out. United were now creating the best chances but headers from Johnny Russell and Sean Dillon failed to trouble Tomas Cerny in the Hamilton goal. Flavio Paixao then had Hamilton’s best chance of the half. Keith Watson misjudged the flight of the ball allowing Paixao in behind the United defence but he could only strike over the bar from the edge of the box. As half-time approached, the industrious Danny Cadamarteri managed to find a bit of space on the left but his low strike was easily held at the near post by Cerny.

United started the brightest in the second half and Prince Buaben tried the spectacular after 55 minutes. After a neat one-two with Cadamarteri, Buaben’s scissor kick at the front post went just wide. Moments later Cadamarteri and Russell combined brilliantly to put the former through on goal before a fine saving challenge halted his progress. Russell himself then had a chance when a Dixon corner to the back post found him in space but he missed his kick and the chance was gone. United were coming forward in waves now and lovely linking play between Cadamarteri and Russell was evident again as they played Prince Buaben in but his shot wasn’t powerful enough to beat Cerny. Normal service was resumed up front for United after 67 minutes with both Russell and Cadamarteri withdrawn to be replaced by Daly and Goodwillie to shake things up. And it had an immediate effect. A neat slide-rule pass from Buaben found Daly in the box but he couldn’t quite get the required touch to flick the ball past the diving Cerny. Buaben then hammered a shot at Cerny and, although the goalkeeper fumbled in at the first attempt, he was able to gather at the second. However, a United goal appeared to be coming and it finally did after 75 minutes. The Accies defence failed to deal with a Keith Watson cross and the ball fell kindly for David Goodwillie at the back post who was able to calmly prod the ball beyond Cerny and record a goal for his sixth consecutive SPL match. The match began to get a bit more physical after that and Simon Mensing and Dougie Imrie both found themselves in the referee’s book for late challenges on Buaben and Gomis respectively. Referee Murray then had to speak to Accies boss Billy Reid for his vociferous complaints from the technical area after David Goodwillie was adjudged to have been bundled off the ball just outside the box. With Accies desperately seeking an equaliser, former United man Damian Casalinuovo entered the fray with ten minutes to go and he nearly grabbed his first of the season but his rasping right-foot strike was deflected onto the junction of bar and post. That was to be Accies’ final chance with the only incident of note in the final minutes a claim for a United penalty as Goodwillie went down in the box but referee Murray was not interested.