Dunfermline's winless run in the Bank of Scotland Premier League was extended to 11 games, following a desperately disappointing goalless draw against Dundee United.

Tangerines striker Collin Samuel came closest to finding a goal during a match which was largely devoid of incident, but the Trinidadian saw his early shot blocked by Dorus de Vries.

For Dunfermline, Jim Hamilton sent a first-half shot on the turn just over the crossbar, but the Pars never looked like breaking their duck in front of goal, which now stands at eight league games.

The first chance of a poor opening period arrived in the sixth minute, when Jon Daly's pass to Samuel was not cut out by Phil McGuire, allowing the Trinidad and Tobago international to scamper though on goal.

Faced with an acute angle, Samuel tried to place a shot between the legs of de Vries, but the Dunfermline goalkeeper managed to get a touch to the ball and the chance was gone.

Stuart Duff then saw a powerful volley from 20 yards fisted away by de Vries, before the Pars lost their captain Greg Shields to injury and the right-back was replaced by Greg Ross.

Despite that setback Dunfermline continued to defend resolutely, although Samuel was unfortunate to see a low right-footed shot from 12 yards well saved by de Vries.

Disappointingly the game then degenerated into a very scrappy affair, which was not helped by a terrible pitch that had cut-up badly during the opening half an hour.

In the 31st minute, Daly did have the ball in the net for United, but only after illegally barging into de Vries and forcing the Dutchman to drop the ball.

At the other end Hamilton should have done better two minutes later, but the Pars' forward could only drive his effort over the crossbar after doing well to find space in the home penalty area.

Three before the break Daly finally managed to power his way through on goal but any hopes of the deadlock being broken soon vanished due to an awful lob which sailed way over.

The second half continued in a similar fashion as possession was frequently traded due to aimless passes and no meaningful goalscoring opportunities were created.

United had the better of the play, spending a lot of time in the Dunfermline half of the pitch, but the home side could do nothing with the ball to seriously hurt their opponents.

In the 64th minute Daly should have done better with a free header following Stuart Duff's corner, but the United striker once again sent his effort well over.

With 16 minutes remaining, a strange incident occurred. Substitute Craig Conway, trying to get his head to the ball, appeared to push team-mate Daly out of the way.

The home support were adamant that a penalty kick should have been awarded, but none of the Pars' players in the surrounding area committed a foul, as the United players collided with each other.

The Tangerines almost found a way to goal in the 78th minute though, when Conway's free-kick was met by a glancing header from David Robertson, whose header carried across the face of goal and just wide.

However, there was to be no winner, although at least with this hard-earned point the Pars were able to end a five-match losing run in the SPL.

Teams

Dundee Utd Stillie, Dillon, Wilkie, McCracken, Kalvenes, Duff,Kerr, Robertson, Samuel (Conway 70), Daly, Hunt.

Subs Not Used: McLean, Mair, Kenneth, Goodwillie, Gomis, Watson.

Booked: Robertson, Kalvenes.

Dunfermline De Vries, Shields (Ross 12), Wilson, McGuire,Glass, Muirhead (Hammill 43), Mason, Simmons (McCunnie 81),O'Brien, Hamilton, Crawford.

Subs Not Used: McKenzie, Bamba, McIntyre, Ryan.

Booked: Hamilton, McGuire, Ross.

Att: 6,295

Ref: Douglas McDonald (Scotland).