Dundee Utd 1
Rangers 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

It is doubtful if conditions could have been much worse overhead with a chilling east wind carrying torrential rain across Tannadice. The pitch was undoubtedly playable at the start but conditions deteriorated as time wore on and fans and players alike were more than grateful to hear the final whistle.

Both sides would have been reasonably satisfied with the outcome too with the game ending all square at a goal apiece. After the scoring failures of Pittodrie and Love Street it was heartening to take the lead after only 11 minutes. The Rangers defence only partially cleared a corner and John Clark immediately returned the ball into the box and Mixu Paatelainen's perfect header from the penalty spot drifted into the top left hand corner of Wood's goal. Rangers got back on level terms quarter of an hour later when Stuart Munro's hurried shot from outside the box bounced off the greasy surface and Alan Main blocked it but from the rebound, Mo Johnston stole in to the net the loose ball. Only the gathering surface water thwarted Kevin Gallacher alter he picked up a misplaced pass back by Trevor Steven.

The unrelenting rain inevitably meant conditions deteriorated and both sides were bogged down in midfield for long periods. The two major exceptions to this brought close things at either end. First of all Ian Ferguson hammered in a first time shot from an acute angle which Alan Main palmed to safety and five minutes later we went very close to getting the winner when a venomous shot from Kevin Gallacher from 20 yards came back off the junction of bar and post.