An Iain Durrant penalty three minutes from time sealed victory for Kilmarnock
and consolidated second spot in the Premier League.
That late goal, added to a Paul Wright header, gave the Ayrshire side a
deserved win over their Tayside opponents.
With French striker Jerome Vareille out injured, Killie gave Ally McCoist his
first start since October 3.
This meant that Kilmarnock began the game with an all Scottish XI while
opponents Dundee United had seven different nationalities on at the start, plus
a Dutchman on the bench.
The visitors began the game at breakneck pace and gave the Killie defence
several anxious moments as they went in search of an early goal.
They took control of the midfield as the home side struggled to get a foothold
in the game, and forced a couple of corners in the opening few minutes.
Alex Mathie almost gave United the lead in 16 minutes when his shot was
blocked by Martin Baker en route to goal.
Then a slip by Baker allowed Lars Zetterlund a free run at goal but the Swede
completely mis-fired from 16 yards.
But gradually Kilmarnock edged their way into the game and eventually made the
breakthrough in 30 minutes, albeit against the run of play.
Paul Wright pounced at the near post to glance in his eighth goal of the
season from Durrant's well-placed kick.
United's response was swift and Gordon Marshall did well to hold a Kjell
Oloffson shot as the ball appeared to change direction.
Marshall, again, came to his side's rescue three minutes from the interval
when he dived to his right to deny Billy Dodds with a close in header.
Kilmarnock went in search of an early second half goal to tie up the point and
it took a terrific save from Alan Combe in 51 minutes to deny McCoist.
The ex-Ranger's shot from 12 yards looked net-bound but Combe's agile dive to
his right turned the ball round for a corner.
Kilmarnock enjoyed more possession after the interval and Ally Mitchell's
powerful running on the left caused the United defence plenty of problems.
But the Tannadice side always looked dangerous on the break with Dodds
providing the main threat.
He looked to have made space for himself in the box in 69 minutes but some
neat defensive play by Baker cleared the danger.
The introduction of substitute Joe Miller mid-way through the second half
added more threat to the visitors' attack but Killie were solid in central
defence with the pairing of skipper Ray Montgomerie and the towering McGowne.
The Rugby Park side introduced their first substitute in the 79th minute, Mark
Roberts coming on to replace McCoist in the vanguard of the Killie attack.
And Roberts almost netted within minutes of his arrival, Combe gathering his
header from a Baker cross.
Then came that late clincher from Durrant when he converted an 87th minute
penalty after Darren Patterson had handled a Mitchell cross.
Teams:
Kilmarnock: Marshall, MacPherson, Baker, Montgomerie, McGowne,
Reilly, Mitchell, Holt, McCoist (Roberts 79),
Wright (McCutcheon 84), Durrant (Mahood 89).
Subs Not Used: Strain, Lauchlan.
Goals: Wright 30, Durrant 87 pen.
Dundee Utd: Combe, Patterson, Pedersen (Paterson 79), Olofsson,
Zetterlund, Dolan, Mathie (Miller 67), Dodds, De Vos,
Mols (Thompson 67), Pascual.
Subs Not Used: Dykstra, Skoldmark.
Att: 13,538
Ref: H Dallas (Motherwell).
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