Dundee Utd 0
M'gladbach 0
UEFA Cup (Semi Final 1st Leg)

Match Report

A game of two halves' may be one of the oldest cliches in football but couldn't be improved upon as a description of this vital European tie. Certainly there was never any hope of a repeat of the 5-0 thrashing we handed out last time. The heavy conditions were hardly conducive to flowing football but in the thirteen minutes our best move of the first half almost brought a goal. A Clark free kick was nodded on by Hegarty and then Ferguson, before the ball dropped to Ian Redford but his volley was too high. Borussia then turned on the pressure and twice Paul Hegarty came to the rescue, the second time with a goalline clearance. The half ended, thankfully, with our goal in tact after one of the poorest European performances for a long time.

These reflections altered drastically in the second half, which started with John Holt at full back and Kevin Gallacher on for John Clark. Twice we had the ball in the net only for the referee to chalk off the score. Iain Ferguson was involved on each occasion. The first time Paul Sturrock was the offender and Iain himself was adjudged offside the second time. A Borussia defender almost sliced a Sturrock cut back into his own net. Kevin Gallacher then brought out a tremendous save by Kamps with our form now starkly contrasted with that dismal first half display. As we chased a lead of some description, the drama ended late in the game when Ian Redford's shot from edge of the box crashed off the post to the undying gratitude of the Borussia keeper.