Dundee UtdDundee Utd |
0 - 00 - 0 |
HibernianHibernian |
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League (Premier Division) |
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Goalscorers | |
None. | None. |
Team Managers | |
Jim McLean |
Eddie Turnbull |
Starting Eleven | |
1. Hamish McAlpine 2. Derek Stark 3. Ray Stewart 4. George Fleming 5. Paul Hegarty 6. Dave Narey 7. Paul Sturrock 8. Derek Addison 9. Billy Kirkwood 10. John Holt 11. Graeme Payne |
Mike McDonald .1 Des Bremner .2 Bobby Smith .3 Gordon Rae .4 George Stewart .5 Jackie McNamara .6 Willie Murray .7 Ally McLeod .8 Arthur Duncan .9 Pat Carroll .10 Tony Higgins .11 |
Bench | |
12. Ralph Milne 14. Derek Frye |
Gerry O'Brien .12 Rikki Fleming .14 |
Substitutions | |
Derek Frye for George Fleming (35) |
Rikki Fleming for George Stewart (58) Gerry O'Brien for Pat Carroll (58) |
Cautions | |
None. | None. |
Red Cards | |
None. | None. |
Match Officials | |
Alex McGunnigle (Glasgow) (Referee) |
It was strangely wet and wintery for this league opener at Tannadice Park as United welcomed Hibs to their home ground. United left Frye and Milne on the bench while Hibs subs were O'Brien and Fleming. Just under 6,000 fans were in attendance to see the new look sides.
A dave Narey free kick in only 60 seconds almost produced the fastest goal of the season but McDonald robbed Paul Sturrock. Sturrock was the live-wire of the home attack and several attempts were thwarted by a hard pressed Hibs defence. Slowly the visitors found their feet and a Tony Higgins block-buster from 25 yards was grabbed at the post by Hamish McAlpine. In 17 minutes, it was the diminutive Sturrock again firing a first-time shot from a Graeme Payne corner into the safe grasp of the Hibs 'keeper. 22 year old Frank Frye signed by United on Thursday made his debuting the 35th minute, replacing the injured George Fleming. Most of the pressure and chances of the first half fell United 's way but it was Hibs who had the best chance of the half. A header from Hegarty over his own bar denied Rae who was poised to score.
In 52 minutes newcomer Frye almost lifted the Tannadice gloom when he nodded a Sturrock cross apparently into the goal but somehow big McDonald saved. Hibs used both substitutes in the 58th minute, Fleming and O'Brien replacing Stewart and Carroll. The Dundee team were very lucky to survive a penalty claim when Stewart pulled the feet from under Willie Murray. The referee's indication of the dive was received with great hostility. With only 13 minutes left, there was a terrible Kirkwood miss and in the dying minutes McLeod was booked and Frye shot inches wide as the dissatisfied crowd left the ground.
1978-79 | All Time | |||||
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Age | Nat | ![]() |
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|
Hamish McAlpine (GK) | 30 |
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1 | - | 327 | 3 |
Derek Stark | 19 |
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1 | - | 2 | - |
Paul Hegarty | 24 |
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1 | - | 158 | 33 |
Ray Stewart | 18 |
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1 | - | 10 | 1 |
Dave Narey | 22 |
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1 | - | 193 | 14 |
John Holt | 21 |
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1 | - | 55 | 4 |
Billy Kirkwood | 19 |
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1 | - | 45 | 12 |
George Fleming | 29 |
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1 | - | 265 | 31 |
Derek Addison | 23 |
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1 | - | 57 | 8 |
Paul Sturrock | 21 |
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1 | - | 132 | 36 |
Graeme Payne | 22 |
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1 | - | 166 | 8 |
Derek Frye (sub) | 22 |
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1 | - | 1 | - |
Pld | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Aberdeen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +3 | 2 |
2. | Celtic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 |
3. | Partick Th | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 |
4. | St Mirren | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 |
5. | United | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
6. | Hibernian | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
7. | Morton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
8. | Motherwell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
9. | Rangers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
10. | Hearts | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 |
League results since United's last match |
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12th August 1978 |
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Dundee Utd | 0-0 | Hibernian |
Hearts | 1-4 | Aberdeen |
Morton | 1-2 | Celtic |
Motherwell | 0-1 | Partick Th |
Rangers | 0-1 | St Mirren |
A very warm welcome back to Tannadice this afternoon for what appears destined to be very much the Premier League clash of the day when Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen are our visitors. The new Dons boss fell heir to one of the country's most talented squads when he succeeded Billy McNeill at Pittodrie during the close season and, judging by their racing start to this term, the north-east men appear determined to better their brave challenge for honours of last season. Only Aberdeen and, of course, champions Rangers were ahead of us in the Premier race last season and naturally we here at Tannadice are equally determined to better our position in the season ahead. We ourselves are currently sitting in a position of having taken a point from each of our openers against Hibs (home) and Partick Thistle (away), with surely the best yet to come from our reshaped side. It most certainly should have been a maximum reward from our clash with Hibs with yet again our finishing department shouldering most of the blame for the fact that our Easter Road visitors escaped with a share.
Again, at Firhill last Saturday, the fact that we were unable to take full advantage of our first-half domination cost us another point. The big difference for me during that first 45 minutes last weekend was that it was not solely bad finishing but bad luck which prevented the interval scoreline from reflecting a true picture of the proceedings. However, as good as we were during that period of sustained pressure, against Thistle, raactly the opposite was the case when the side was given an extra outing in the Forfarshire Cup semi-final against Forfar Athletic here on Tuesday night. The fixture was arranged with the prime objective of offsetting our absence from the early stages of the League Cup —and tuned out to be something of a flop. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the display was probably one of the worst since I came to Tannadice almost seven years ago. Very little went right despite our 1-0 win. Nevertheless, it did give new striker Derek Frye a further opportunity to settle in, a job he is completing much faster than I could have dared hoped a fortnight ago. Having stated that his signing was indeed a gamble at the time I am nevertheless convinced that on the evidence of his displays so far, it could well be a winning gamble. However, it's not hard to see that we require not one but two forward thinking players - urgently. If this can be achieved by virtue of player-swop deals in the future then it might be possible.