First Team
ALL THE INFO | PARTICK THISTLE (H)
1st May 2024
CLACHNACUDDIN 0-4 DUNDEE UNITED
SCOTTISH FA YOUTH CUP
7PM FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
GRANT STREET PARK
The Young Terrors headed up the A9 for the Scottish FA Youth Cup Third Round as they faced off against Highland League outfit Clachnacuddin at Grant Street Park.
United secured their passage to the next stage of the competition with a resilient victory over Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Stuart Heenan’s early strike coupled with a solid defensive performance enough to see out a closely contested affair.
Line-Up
After a draw against cup-winning captain Andy Webster’s St Mirren last Friday, just one change was made to the XI which began that clash at Gussie – 15-year-old forward Owen Stirton rewarded with his first start for the U18s as he led a one-man strikeforce.
Jamie McCabe retained his place between the sticks after returning from injury, and in-form Stuart Heenan played off the right ahead of Liam Trotter.
Playing Conditions
It was evident from the first whistle the soft and uneven playing surface would influence both sides’ ability to play passing football, with United, used to playing on pristine artificial surfaces, taking a few minutes to adjust.
The first chance of the match fell the way of Arron Donald as he stood unmarked in the box and connected with a Rory MacLeod delivery from the right but could only find the roof of the net with his effort.
On 11 minutes, Adam Carnwath collected a loose ball at the back stick and teed up Bryan Mwangi making up ground from midfield whose first-time strike comfortably cleared the crossbar from 23 yards.
Another of MacLeod’s wicked crosses was almost the source of the opener, his looping corner headed back across goal by Stirton and bundled towards the line by Heenan in a crowded six-yard area. Unfortunately for United, Clachnacuddin defender Ethan Haining was on hand to hack the ball to relative safety.
Breakthrough
The one-way traffic continued, and eventually the tangerine pressure told. U18s skipper Craig Moore pounced on a contested ball inside the centre circle before bursting forward 20 yards unchallenged and feeding Heenan to his right. The winger didn’t have to break stride to collect his colleague’s perfectly-weighted lay-off and drilled across goal into the far corner from just inside the area, his third goal in four matches.
On the half-hour mark, strong running from Trotter down the right allowed him the opportunity to cross into the middle and find MacLeod on the penalty spot. His initial effort was blocked by Jamie Young as it arrowed towards the bottom corner, and found his follow-up volleyed away by Haining.
Heenan then connected with MacLeod’s bouncing wide free-kick at the front post, flicking the ball inches past the upright, but this didn’t dishearten the number 11 as he doubled his tally and United’s lead soon after in sublime fashion with 34 minutes on the clock.
Solo-Effort
A speculative ball down the line from Bertie was collected by the Young Terrors number 11 who left Donald Mackenzie in his wake with a sharp turn and executed a sharp shift inside Haining to enter the area. Heenan took a final touch out of his feet before finding the top corner with a stinging strike which flew through Clachnacuddin 'keeper Owen Galbraith’s gloves.
United stopper McCabe cut an isolated figure throughout, touching the ball just three times in the first period. However, Donald was forced to intervene with a well-timed sliding challenge on Fraser Wright to prevent the hosts’ winger from bearing down one-on-one with the keeper.
After the interval, the run of play continued to flow towards the Highland outfit’s net. A miscue from MacLeod after strong hold-up play from Stirton spurned a gilt-edged chance to end the match as a contest inside the opening minute of the second half, and the lively Bryan Mwangi had a net-bound effort blocked a few yards from the target.
MacLeod’s personal frustration also continued as he found himself kept out by a string of strong saves by Galbraith.
Out Of Sight
With 20 minutes to play, Stirton notched the goal his tireless shift up top deserved and all but secure a place in the quarter-final. A drilled cross from Heenan was untidily spilled into the box by Galbraith and the tall striker was on hand to finish on the spin – his first goal for the Young Terrors aged just 15.
The three-goal cushion allowed Head Coach Ryan Moon to give more minutes to younger members of the squad, with Owen Emslie, 15, and Josh Holt, 14, making cameos from the bench.
Despite conceding three, Chalchnacuddin’s keeper Galbraith produced somewhat of a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ display – after a shaky showing in the opening 45, he managed to pull off a plethora of stunning saves to keep the scoreline down, including a double-stop to deny Scott Constable and Stirton in the closing stages. In addition to this, Galbraith pawed a long-distance wonder strike from Keir Bertie over the bar in acrobatic fashion.
Taking Home The Match Ball
There was still time for more action in stoppage time at Grant Street Park as a ruthless United went in search of a fourth goal. MacLeod rattled the crossbar from point-blank range as he stooped to meet a low ball from the left, before Heenan wrapped up his hat-trick on the whistle, meeting a deep cross with a deft header on the six-yard line.
Dominance aptly describes a completely controlled display from the Young Terrors, who could’ve hit double figures on the night had it not been for the heroics of Clachnacuddin goalkeeper Galbraith after the break, as they book a place in the last eight of the Scottish FA Youth Cup.
Teamlines
Clachnacuddin: Galbraith, D.MacKenzie, Haining, MacDonald, Young, S.MacKenzie, Oli Brown, Neville, Wright, McGoran, MacLeod (Strezclec, Patience, Coughbrough, Henry, MacKinnon, Golden, Martin
United, McCabe, Trotter, Bertie, Moore, Donald, Constable, Carnwath, Mwangi, Stirton, MacLeod, Heenan (Borland, Haldane, Emslie, Holt)
