Appearances & Goals To Date

Kevin Main (GK)		67 apps	-
Craig McKeown		134 apps	20 goals
Johnny Crawford		138 apps	11 goals
Darryn Kelly		9 apps	1 goal
Stuart Smith		250 apps	24 goals
Stuart Anderson		224 apps	34 goals
Graeme Rodger		207 apps	71 goals
Wayne Mackintosh		65 apps	6 goals
Aaron Norris		42 apps	3 goals
Scott Lisle		23 apps	13 goals
Garry Wood		164 apps	79 goals
Kieran Lawrence (sub)		81 apps	2 goals
Gary McGowan (sub)		26 apps	8 goals
Daniel Park (sub)		37 apps	10 goals

Starting Lineup

Matchday Squad

First Team Debuts

Milestones

There are big defeats and bad defeats: this was both. The margin of the visitors' victory if viewed in the context of being achieved by a club of comparable status (Lowland League v Highland League) is wide enough to embarrass. 4-0 is, by any measure, a “doing”. However the scale of the defeat is incidental to how important this game was for the rest of United's season and the grossly sub-standard United performance that elicited it.

Stutteringly indifferent league performances this season and defeat in the Final of the Aberdeenshire Cup meant that a good run in the William Hill Scottish Cup was United's route to salvation. A win in this game was the key - well worth fighting for, but the level of performance on the day gave scant indication of the importance of this game to the club.

“Kilby” went at United straight from the kick off setting a tempo that United were unable or unwilling to match. Within a minute Winter had charged down the right flank and whipped a low driven ball into the heart of United box. Cairns and Paton were in for it and with others flooding forward in support, United were forced onto the back foot and struggling desperately to clear their lines. EK kept the pressure on and play was confined very substantially to the final third at the United end. Shots rained in and it was the sheer weight of numbers that prevented most of them from reaching their intended target.

Occasional respite would come United's way when keeper Main collected the ball and hoofed it up into visitor territory. However the visitors were very quick to close down any United incursion and appeared to have done enough homework to have Formartine target man Wood double-marked by Coll and Brownlie. This meant that United attempts at attack were about as frequent and fertile as the droppings of a rocking horse.

The balance of territory and possession was markedly in East Kilbride's favour with the ball mostly within an area around 25 yards of the United goal Kilby set out their stall to keep that pressure on. United were confined to occasional breakaways none of which caused any real alarm to the visitors. A drive from Rodger tested McGinley as he went down smartly to his right to smother.

East Kilbride opened their account in the 20th minute after a prolonged seige on the United goal. Crosses were scrambled away but never cleared very far and with Brady, Cairns and Holmes patrolling just outside that area United couldn't get the ball away without it being returned to the danger area. A half hit clearance in the 6 yard area was blocked and then hammered home by PATON in the 20th minute.

The pattern continued with United remaining under the cosh until the interval. Thereafter East Kilbride quickly set about ensuring victory. United had pushed a bit but succeeded only in leaving space for Kilby to attack from deeper which they did with pace and flair in the 48th minute, Fisher picked up a loose crossfield ball and drilled it through to BRADY who picked it up forward of halfway and ran at and past retreating defenders before curling the ball left-footed beyond Main from 18 yards out.

Formartine, in deep trouble, needed to try something new and replaced Lisle with Park in the 54th minute. Kilby simply scored another 5 minutes later when Paton spotting a gap threaded the ball to HOLMES who left defenders floundering and side footed home for the killer third goal.

United throwing everything they could forward, were vulnerable to an East Kilbride breakaway which came when the fresh legs of sub Carmichael propelled him to a lightning 40 yard break down the right before he drove the ball low across the box to meet the arrival of PATON who barely broke his stride in skelping the ball home in the 78th minute from inside the left corner the box to complete United's humiliation. To add injury to insult, Gary MacGowan was stretchered off, his face contorted in pain in the 83rd minute after a nasty late high and rearward challenge by Cairns.

Match report by Colin Keenan



Photography by Ian Rennie

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