Motherwell 0
Dundee Utd 2
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

The team's preparations for this away encounter against bottom of the table Motherwell took a serious blow following an accidental collision in training on the Friday. Paul Sturrock ended up in hospital with an eye injury, which could rule him out for a few weeks. Former Chelsea man Ian Britton came in to replace the international striker, but otherwise the team remained the same from the midweek victory in Norway. McLaughlin found a place in the Motherwell team after a good fame in the reserves.

Steve McLelland tried a long range shot for Motherwell in the eighth minute but the ball trickled harmlessly past the post and at the other end Ralph Milne had an equally disappointing finish from a promising move by United. Hamish McAlpine had to come out of his area to beat Brian McLaughlin to a long clearance, and with some neat footwork averted the danger. United came close to breaking the deadlock just before half-time when Davie Dodds floated over a cross fromt he left and Billy Kirkwood saw his header beat Hugh Sproat, but bounce back off the post.

Motherwell became more adventurous after the interval and began to give United problems at the back, but their efforts around goal were no better than that of the first half. Then, with some some of the crowd already making their way home, United produced two killer blows in the final 60 seconds. Johannes Edvaldsson headed out a John Holt cross and from 25 yards Dave Narey hammered a great drive low inside the right-hand post. That was followed quickly after by a great run by Milne, who cut back from the byeline for Billy Kirkwood to tap it over the line.