Dundee United 0 Hibernian 1

A controversial night at Tannadice ended in defeat for United as a 38^th minute Jason Cummings strike proved to be the difference. By Ally Stewart This didn’t tell the whole story however as shortly before Lewis Toshney had been ordered off after receiving a 2^nd yellow card. With just under quarter of an hour remaining Cummings then also received a 2^nd yellow for needlessly punching the ball into the net however the hosts couldn’t force an equaliser despite throwing bodies forward. As expected it was a lively start to the match and Willo Flood battled to win possession in midfield before playing in Tony Andreu who won an early corner for United. It was end to end stuff and Cammy Bell then raced out to block Jason Cummings just outside the 6 yard box after the striker ran onto a through ball. In the 24^th minute Fraser drove into the visitors' half and played in Simon Murray who was pushed over by David Gray just outside the box, earning the Hibs captain a yellow card. Nicholls then drove the free kick off the wall and out for a corner as the hosts looked to strike. The crucial moment of the first half came in the 32^nd minute as, following an earlier yellow card, the outstretched leg of Lewis Toshney caught Andrew Shinnie a fraction late resulting in an early finish to the game for the midfielder. Whilst it was a foul, the decision from Don Robertson to issue another yellow appeared to be incredibly harsh. Hibs then capitalised further in the 38^th minute when a Shinnie through ball wasn’t dealt with by Frank van Der Struijk or Mark Durnan allowing Cummings to race clear and fire high into the net past Bell. Early into a fiery second half Paul Dixon and Marvin Bartley were booked before a flashpoint between William Edjenguele and Grant Holt also saw them both cautioned. McKinnon sent on Thomas Mikkelsen with just under half an hour left as the home side looked to somehow claim something from the game against the odds. In the 65^th minute Boyle fired high over from 8 yards out after Gray had crossed in from the right after beating the offside trap.  Boyle was next to create space on the right flank and his low ball into the area was turned toward goal by sub Fraser Fyvie who would’ve made it 2-0 but for a goal saving block from Durnan. With 15 minutes left there was another moment of controversy when after it seemed for a moment that Cummings had headed the visitors into a two goal lead however referee Robertson had spotted that the striker had punched the ball home resulting in another yellow card and an ordering off. It was a huge lifeline for the Tangerines but there was another let off in the 79^th minute when a diagonal ball was allowed to fall all the way to Shinnie at the far post whose high effort was superbly turned over by Bell. As has been the case previously this season Durnan was thrown up front before Nick Van der Velden was also sent on for Fraser in a final attempt to salvage something. A stinging free kick from Dixon from 25 yards out hit a United man in the wall and deflected wide with 5 minutes to go and despite a number of high balls causing panic in the penalty area another chance wouldn’t fall to United. United – Bell, Dixon, Durnan, Fraser (Van der Velden 83), Toshney, Edjenguele, Murray, Flood, Van der Struijk, Nicholls, Andreu (Mikkelsen 63). Subs not used – Zwick, Dillon, Telfer, Robson, Murdoch. Hibernian – Marciano, Gray, Bartley (Fyvie 68), McGinn, Holt (Graham 79), Stevenson, Boyle (Forster 86), Shinnie, McGregor, Ambrose, Cummings. Subs not used – Laidlaw, Keatings, Crane, Martin. Attendance – 9532 Referee – Don Robertson