DUFC

UNITED BEAT FORFAR 1-0

19th July 2005

A superbly struck Barry Robson effort was enough to win United the Forfarshire Cup in a well contested match against Forfar at Station Park.

Gordon Chisholm fielded a full strength team for the game with an impressive frontline of McIntyre, Crawford and new signing Lee Miller. Also appearing was United's new goalkeeper Derek Stillie. Forfar had former United youngster Aaron Conway playing in their attack.

The first half of the match was the better of the two from a United point of view with the team looking very sharp in all areas. The front three all looked particularly dangerous and, along with Robson, were a constant threat to the home defence. Following several good chances, which included a bullet header from Robson, United broke the deadlock with a wonderstrike from the former Inverness man. He played a neat one-two with Miller and slammed the ball into the top right hand corner of the net from 20 yards out.

The second half was more evenly balanced with the home side creating their own share of goal scoring opportunities. Collin Samuel had replaced Jim McIntyre at half time for United and the striker from Trinidad looked eager to impress. It was Samuel who had the best effort of the second half when on 55 minutes he was set up by Stevie Crawford only to see his thunderous shot crack the side of the post and go out to safety. United almost doubled their lead with five minutes remaining. Grant Brebner played an inch perfect pass to Mark Wilson who squared the ball along the six yard line and Stevie Crawford just failed to connect. The match was played out with plenty action but no further scoring.

Summary: A very good pre-season game for United which involved a very hard working Forfar side. United created a number of very good chances and on another day would have won more convincingly.

Man of the match: New signing Lee Miller who linked very well with his fellow strikers. On the night he was constantly looking to create chances for himself and his team mates. Miller will prove to be a real favourite with the Tannadice faithful.

Teams:

Forfar: Brown, Lunan, Owen, Forrest, Dunn, Bonner, Sellars, McLune, Conway (Boyd 63), Shields, Waddell
Sub : Berry

Dundee United: Stillie, Wilson, McCracken, Archibald (Kenneth 55), Kerr (Easton 78), Brebner, Miller, McIntyre (Samuel 46), Robson, Crawford, Ritchie

Subs not used : Robertson, McLean

Referee : Mike Ritchie

Click here for the full match report by Gareth Scott