MATCH REPORT | A PROMOTION PARTY AT TANNADICE
4th May 2024
The Young Terrors were at their newfound home of Gussie Park for the second game in a row as they welcomed Darren Mcgregor’s Hibernian to Tayside
Last time out, Ryan Moon’s men found themselves defeated by a physical Motherwell side who capitalised on two unforced errors to take all three points back to Lanarkshire, and therefore the Head Coach would be looking for a response from his players.
Line-Up
United set up in a 4-3-1-2 with a slight change in personnel from the aforementioned game against the Steelmen, first-team debutant Rory MacLeod deployed as striker alongside Stuart Heenan who looked to drift in from the right wing when supported by full-back Liam Trotter. Adam Carnwath took up a deeper role than the one to which he is accustomed, the 16-year-old in a three-man midfield alongside Sean Borland and captain Craig Moore.
Off the mark
Another blistering start unfolded at Gussie Park, however this time the Young Terrors were on the right side of it. Heenan carried the ball more than 40 yards up the pitch on the counter, with MacLeod making up ground down the middle in support. The winger reached the edge of the area and attempted to find his colleague with a low, driven cross which Jackson Innes hacked into his own net to give United the lead after just four minutes.
An aggressive interception from Arron Donald soon after saw him dispossess Jacob MacIntyre just inside the attacking half and he decided to try his luck, sending a dipping effort whistling past the post.
The compact midfield trio of Moore, Carnwath and Borland began to attract their opposite numbers, leaving space in the wider regions for Trotter and Bertie to bomb forward. As a result of this, the majority of United’s ball progression in the first period came from these scenarios.
A MacLeod set-piece caused chaos in the middle after 18 minutes, as his out-swinging corner dropped at the feet of Carnwath who looked to hook the ball into the net but Hibs ‘keeper Freddie Owens managed to smother the danger.
Hibs finally fashioned an opportunity at the midway point of the first half, a trialist’s looping delivery to the back post met by the studs of defender Owen Hastie and he diverted the ball past the upright with the goal at his mercy.
Adam Khan then sent Josh Landers into the United box with a clipped pass from deep, the number ten in turn looking for teammate MacIntyre making up ground at the back post with a dinked cross which was well dealt with by Donald.
United began to go long in search of a second goal as they looked utilise physical dominance to their advantage. First, an exquisitely weighted ball from Greg Petrie dropped perfectly at the feet of MacLeod who advanced into the area and sent a wasteful lob straight at Owens.
Then MacLeod squandered another chance as he raced into the area after latching onto a Bertie pass. The striker had an unmarked Heenan waiting for a tap-in in the middle but decided to go for goal himself and blasted the ball well wide of the near post.
Leading By Example
It was third time lucky though for a Route One Young Terrors, this time MacLeod turning provider as his left-footed ball up the line was collected by Moore on the run from midfield and the skipper kept his composure to drill a fabulous finish into the bottom right corner across goal, doubling his side’s lead heading into the break.
MacLeod’s influence on proceedings continued after the restart, as his strong hold-up play managed to bring Bertie into the fold, spreading the ball wide to the left-back and continuing his run into the area. Bertie fizzed his cross into Carnwath who set up MacLeod with a nicely cushioned lay-off, and the 16-year-old’s eventual effort was blocked on the slide by Jackson Innes.
Carnwath looked to get himself on the scoresheet with 57 minutes down, striking for goal from more than 30 yards but failing to find the target with a well-struck shot.
Back In The Game
Against the run of play, the Edinburgh outfit pulled a goal back. Donald misjudged an Owens goal-kick on the bounce and Landers was alert to latch onto the ball before squaring to his trialist colleague to steer into an empty net.
It was almost two in as many minutes after Sean Borland lost possession on the counter to MacIntyre who dribbled beyond the challenge of three United players before sending a low, curling shot towards the corner which McCabe was equal to. The rebound fell kindly for Landers ten yards from goal whose snapshot was brilliantly deflected wide by the Young Terrors number one after he rose quickly from making the first stop.
United’s influence on the game began to wane as the visitors pressed for an equaliser, however Heenan had a chance to kill the game on the break after being teed up by substitute Cameron May, but his driven strike across the keeper slid the wrong side of the post.
Riding Out The Storm
Petrie finally blotted his copybook after a commanding defensive performance as he found himself caught on the wrong side of Reece Holden and the Hibs sub bore down on goal with Landers to his right and only Donald between himself and the goal. It looked certain that the away side would equalise but impeccable positioning from the United defender managed to cut off both the square pass and the shot, Landers' strike blocked at the culmination of the chance.
Petrie was once again in the thick of the action with 12 to play at Gussie, this time blocking Alfie Smith’s side-footed effort on the goal-line after McCabe had been called out of his goal to thwart Holden.
McCabe continued to be the hero in the closing stages, denying Hibs’ livewire MacIntyre with a strong save in the top corner after the number seven had unleashed a venomous, 35-yard strike.
Disciplined Until The Death
The Young Terrors remained resolute in the closing stages, taking the sting out of their opposition’s attacks to concede few clear-cut chances. The final whistle sounded after 90 minutes of battling from the boys in tangerine, and they claimed victory to put their first three points on the CAS Under-18s Elite League table for the season.
Teamlines
United: McCabe, Trotter, Bertie, Petrie, Donald, Borland, Heenan, Moore, MacLeod, Domeracki, Carnwath (Haldane, Lowe, May, Cameron)
Hibernian: Owens, Wright, Khan, Innes, Hastie, Bulloch, MacIntyre, Molotnikov, McKenzie, Landers, Trialist (Smith, Laing, Craig, Gardner, Holden, McGarva, Samuels)
