Dundee United 1 Hamilton 0

The Tangerines finally halted a run of ten games without victory after taking full points against Hamilton this afternoon. By Ally Stewart After a keenly contested first half there were chances aplenty, mainly for Accies, after the break but it was a sublime strike from Chris Erskine in the 70^th minute which sealed the points. In an opening half of few chances there was plenty of endeavour from both sides with the hosts probably holding a slight territorial advantage. After 8 minutes Crawford was almost in for Accies when he reacted quickest to a loose ball in the area but Dixon was on hand to clear. United then had decent set piece opportunities after two late challenges on Paton which resulted in bookings for both MacKinnon and Crawford but neither attempt from Telfer nor then Dixon troubled the visiting goal. Spittal was then denied by a last ditch challenge from Gordon following a purposeful run into the box in 25 minutes before a Devlin header had to be hacked away by Dixon as Hamilton threatened. Erskine and Ciftci both had shots as the hosts pressed towards half time but were kept out as the opening 45 ended goalless. In the 50^th minute Hamilton came closest to scoring when after good work down the left by Hasselbank the ball broke to Stephen Hendrie who poked a shot beyond Cierzniak but United were let off the hook when the ball rolled off the outside of the post and out for a goal kick. The visitors struck the woodwork again when Louis Longridge latched onto a deep cross and Cierzniak was a relieved man as the ball rebounded back off the post and into his arms. Cierzniak was then forced to save a fierce Jason Scotland drive for a corner as Accies looked the livelier before making an astonishing stop from a Crawford free kick which he turned onto the post before the ball was cleared. Cierzniak was the busiest man on the park as he then had to save from both Dougie Imrie and Crawford again in the space of seconds to keep the visitors at bay. Somehow in the 70^th minute the Tangerines found themselves ahead when Chris Erskine scored in spectacular fashion. Telfer received the ball in midfield and set up the United midfielder who curled the ball into McGovern’s bottom left corner from all of 20 yards to the obvious relief of all the majority inside Tannadice. Ciftci was almost in on 80 minutes but was just thwarted from a through ball by McGovern as the ball bounced off him to safety rather than towards the goal. It was a more confident looking United in the final third with Telfer and Ciftci appearing visibly lifted by the goal and the latter tried an ambitious shot from distance which sailed over. Right on full time Ciftci created the chance for the hosts to seal it after nice skill down the right gave him the opportunity to cross low for Bilate who despite a sliding lunge at the far post missed the target. In the end this proved to be the last chance as the home side posted a much needed win in their pursuit of European football. Full Time Summary – United rode their luck especially in the second half where only the woodwork and the goalkeeper kept the scores level. Football is about taking your chances when they come and Erskine did so in fine style with 20 minutes left to seal a first win in the league since January. Man of the Match – The basis of the result was only possible due to the heroics of Radoslaw Cierzniak who with a string of fine saves kept the visitors at bay allowing United to go on and take full advantage. United – Cierzniak, Dixon, Souttar, Morris, McGowan, Erskine (Muirhead 84), Paton (c), Telfer, Spittal (Bilate 63), Connolly, Ciftci. Subs not used – Szromnik, Dillon, Butcher, Smith, Anier. Hamilton – McGovern, Gordon, Hendrie, Devlin, Gillespie, Imrie, Crawford, Hasselbank (Scotland 57) Longridge (Redmond 74), MacKinnon (Brophy 81), Lyon. Subs not used – Hill, Watson, MacDonald, Tagliapietra. Referee – Andrew Dallas Attendance – 5243