7pm

We lost 2-1 to Dundee Utd at Tannadice this afternoon, our second consecutive defeat, and as a result find ourselves at the bottom of the league table tonight.

Terry Butcher made a few changes to his side, with Steve Woods replacing the suspended Francois Dubourdeau between the sticks, and both Cowan and Lasley dropped to the bench to be replaced by Stevie Hammell and new signing Tony Vaughan.  Our other new recruit, striker Richard Offiong, had to settle for a place on the bench.

The home side took an early lead when confusion between defence and goalkeeper resulted in a needless corner being conceded.  A low cross found Andy Tod unmarked and he found the back of the net from around 8 yards.  We weren't really in the game at this point, but managed to get back on level terms courtesy of a penalty kick after 19 mins.  A United passback was woefully short, and Clarkson nipped in to take the ball round the goalkeeper, only to be brought down just as he was set to score.  Combe was red carded by the referee, and substitute goalkeeper Gallacher was comprehensively beaten by Derek Adams' spot kick.  We grew in confidence after this and had had the better of the play, and should have gone in front just before the interval when Adams missed an absolute sitter.  Still, the mood among the 'Well fans at half-time was one of optimism.  Surely we would make our one-man advantage count in the second half...

Right after the break we missed another golden opportunity, when Leitch rounded his man but managed to put the ball wide from 10 yards with an open goal to aim at.  Not surprisingly, we would be left to rue these missed chances as the home side began to dominate, indeed it appeared as if WE were playing with a man short as United managed to find space all over the park.  Woods was called upon to make an excellent save as it became apparent we were struggling to hold on for a point, let alone pushing to win the game.  It was no surprise when the home side restored their lead, the goal coming from a deflected Miller shot with around 20 mins to go.  It seemed as though United would comfortably hold on for the win, although we did create a couple of chances right at the death, but not surprisingly both were spurned.

I think it's fair to say we got exactly what we deserved today.  Our second half display was truly appalling, and for us to be dominated the way we were by a 10 man team at the bottom of the league was verging on the unacceptable.  Our midfield today was second best, and was completely overrun by the opposition for long periods of the match.  Questions must also be asked about TB's tactics, as for the second match in a row our gameplan seemed to consist solely of lumping high balls up the park in the general direction of our inexperienced strikers.  Without both McFadden and Lehmann in our team, we are a very ordinary side indeed.  That said, and despite the fact we were second best for long periods today, we STILL carved out enough chances to win TWO games, and perhaps that is the most frustrating thing.  Like Wednesday night, today's game was one where defeat could easily have been avoided, no matter underserved it might have been.

Team (3-5-2): Woods, Kinniburgh, Vaughan, Partridge, Corrigan, Adams (Fagan 73), Leitch (Lasley 83), Pearson, Hammell, Clarkson, Craig (Offiong 67).
Subs not used: Ewings, Cowan.

Booked: Leitch, Partridge, Craig.

Attendance: 6,672.

Terry Butcher was downbeat after the game today, saying:
"I am very disappointed, but this has been the story of our season.  We have not beaten a team in the bottom six yet and that is what is hurting us. We get on fine when we play the better sides, but just can't kill off the teams around us.  We have to hand credit to United though. They battled hard and played with a real spirit. I still think someone is going to take a real hiding from us though."

As you will have probably heard by now, our EXCLUSIVE story re Tony Vaughan has been confirmed.  The 27-year-old centre half has joined from Nottingham Forest until the end of the season.

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