Dundee United 2 Livingston 0 - Match Report

Last updated : 15 December 2003 By Dov
Livi made the journey north on Saturday the 13th December to play Ian McCall’s Dundee United side at Tannadice on Saturday knowing that the tangerines would be looking for revenge after the Lions won up at Tannadice in the CIS cup in October.

It was Livingston who carved out the first chance after only a couple of minutes when Lee Makel found Derek Lilley with a well timed pass, but his shot across goal, much to the relief of the Dundee United defenders. Derek should have at least hit the target, but it wasn’t an easy chance.

Stuart Lovell had another chance for Livingston in the 20th minute following some good work from Fernando Pasquinelli, but the former Hibs player saw his poor shot easily saved by Gallacher in the United goal.

United had the ball in the back of the net three minutes later, but the linesman’s flag saved the day when he flagged Chris Innes offside after he got on the end of a Barry Robson free-kick.

Livi manager Davie Hay admitted that the first side to score in the match would probably go on and win it, so he would have been disappointed when the Arabs managed to take the lead with only four minutes remaining until the interval. Barry Robson fired in a free-kick, and former Rangers player Billy Dodds was on hand to deflect the ball past the helpless Livingston goalkeeper. A poor goal to lose, and another one lost so close to half time.

Half Time - Dundee United 1 (Dodds 41) Livingston 0


Former United forward, Lilley took some stick during this match and from where the Livi faithful was sitting, he seemed to be rattled by the constant boos and jeers from the home crowd.

It was a poor match with not very much to report, but Emmanuel Dorado came to Livi's rescue in the 65th minute, getting his body in front of Barry Robson to prevent him getting on the end of a McIntyre cross.

A second goal for Dundee United would have killed the match off by now, and it was no surprise when the Billy Dodds got his second of the match. Barry Robson fired in a 22 yard shot, the ball crashed of Roddy McKenzie’s post, and Billy Dodds was on hand to slot the ball into the empty net. It was a very bad performance in the second half by Livi and could definitely done with the skill and determination of Fernandez as time and time again looked poor in attack.

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Full Time - Dundee United 2 (Dodds 41,80) Livingston 0


Lions boss Davie Hay admitted afterwards that not being able to score when on top has proved crucial in the end.

"I think in games like this one, when there isn’t a lot between the teams, the first goal is crucial," said Hay.

"I think they got a lift from the goal and it’s just disappointing that we couldn’t take our chances when we made them. We had a couple that went just wide of the post and Gallagher has made a good save as well. Had they gone in you never know.

"I thought that we started the game well and for the first 25 minutes we were playing well. We knew that the first goal would be important and it has turned out that way.

"Their delivery from set-pieces is good, Dodds has managed to get a wee flick and it’s ended up in the net.

"When you have control of the game it is important that you take your chances and we just couldn’t do that. It’s all very well saying that we maybe dominated in spells but the important thing is the final score and we lost. The second goal just really killed the game."