Kilmarnock 1 Dundee Utd 0: Talking points after HUGE win & Derek McInnes reaction
Marley Watkins popped up with the only goal of the game on 72 minutes to claim a vital three points for the hosts.
It was far from a classic, but Kilmarnock won’t care after they got back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Dundee United.
Marley Watkins popped up with the game's only goal on 72 minutes to claim a vital three points for the hosts.
Here is our reaction to the main talking points…
Grind it out
Played below par, and picked up the three points. That’s probably the fairest summary of Killie’s victory over United tonight.
Watkins popped up with a crucial moment as the striker headed home on 72 minutes to secure a massive win.
The performance wasn’t there, but the need for a far outweighed the need for silky football this evening.
Watkins’ goal came from a header, as he challenged goalkeeper Jack Walton to nod the ball into the net from close range.
The Welshman ran to the corner to celebrate, as referee David Dickinson saw no need to rule the goal out for a foul in a similar-style situation to last Saturday’s winner for Hearts. A foul would’ve been harsh on the striker though, who kept his arms down as much as he could when jumping.
Watkins didn’t have his best game, but maybe a scrappy goal like that was exactly what he needed and will help him to kick-on between now and the end of the campaign.
The 1-0 win lifts Killie into ninth spot on 28 points. Derek McInnes’ side are now just three points off the top six, but more importantly, restored the seven-point gap on St Johnstone at the bottom.
A positive result was needed and that’s exactly what the team managed. It was far from pretty, but they deserve credit for getting their first win in four games, and for keeping a clean sheet.
It’s Saints at Rugby Park next time out on February 15. That has to be targeted as another win to put further daylight between the teams.
Lack of quality
The last time the sides met in Ayrshire, the encounter was filed under: Great advert for Scottish football.
Perhaps that 3-3 draw on a sunny September afternoon attracted Premier Sports to select tonight’s match as one of their Rugby Park picks.
From around the midway point of the first half, bosses at the broadcasters will have been wishing they didn’t bother.
This point would’ve been valid regardless of the final score. It was an awful spectacle.
Neither team played well, with mistakes all over the pitch and a painfully slow tempo throughout.
The crowd was subdued as a result of the product on the park – which for a night time kick-off on a Saturday evening under the floodlights, probably shouldn’t have been the case.
Aside from a relatively straight-forward save by Jack Walton from an early Joe Wright volley, there was little to get excited about from a Killie perspective until Watkins’ goal inside the final 20. Again, not that anyone was complaining when celebrating the victory at full-time.
The visitors, missed a couple of half-chances in the first period through Allan Campbell and Ruari Paton, while Declan Gallagher smacked the bar with a header with a near-post header at 0-0, and Glen Middleton fired wide in stoppage time.
Killie’s midfield and forward line were static for large parts. Danny Armstrong tried to make things happen, while also getting back to help defend.
The lack of cohesion and patterns of play could probably also be put down to nerves, as well as tactics. Kieran O’Hara hesitated to come off his line on a few occasions, much to the frustration of the manager in the dugout. It seems his error at Tynecastle had got to him, albeit he improved like most of his teammates after the goal.
The nerves in the stands weren’t helped as VAR checked for a possible United penalty in the final seconds of the game. But I guess that made the celebrations even sweeter when the whistle was sounded for full-time.
Wright stuff
Joe Wright came in for criticism alongside Robbie Deas for their soft defending in the last match.
The big man was superb tonight, though. He recovered well to continue what has been a fine resurgence in form since his early-season woes.
The powerful defender put his body on the line, repeatedly showing his ability to read the game by intercepting the ball at vital moments to stop United’s attackers in their tracks.
He nicked in ahead of Dalby on a couple of occasions in the first half, nicking the ball off the striker’s toe as he looked to face Killie’s goal. Wright also produced an outstanding defensive header to clear after some slack play by Corrie Ndaba allowed Ryan Strain the chance to cross from an inviting position.
There was one shaky moment when he went down appealing for a foul, which the referee waved away. This led to a three-on-two attack for United, but Luca Stephenson dallied on the ball, allowing Lewis Mayo to win the ball back with ease.
Wright was one of Killie’s best performers though, and deserves plaudits for playing such a big part on an individual basis.
Watson & Wales
The clamour for both David Watson and Bobby Wales to play together in the same team reached a climax during last weekend’s defeat at Tynecastle.
So, supporters of that particular mindset would have been thrilled to see the club’s top academy products start in this one.
Wales played alongside Marley Watkins in the starting XI, while Watson made up a midfield two with Kyle Magennis.
Watson rightly earned the appreciation of the crowd on 26 minutes when he intervened to halt an extremely dangerous United breakaway after a short period of pressure from the hosts. Derek McInnes was tearing his hair out when Brad Lyons failed to make a tactical foul on Dalby in the middle of the park, which then saw the visitors able to break up the left through Will Ferry.
Watson showed his acceleration to race back to win the ball, which found its way back to O’Hara.
While it wasn’t much, it did give the crowd a lift in what was a subdued atmosphere at the time, with nothing happening on the park to capture any excitement.
Wales, as always, showed some neat flashes but aside from one shot from distance which was never troubling the keeper, he never really had the kind of say on the game that was required, although the same could be said of all the attacking players for the most part.
They both provided plenty of energy and sometimes that alone is enough.
Injury nightmare
Without sounding like a broken record, Killie’s luck with injuries this season is getting beyond the ridiculous stage.
Lyons was unable to continue after half an hour after sustaining a head knock in a 50-50 challenge with Vicko Sevelj around the halfway line.
The Northern Ireland midfielder only just returned to the team after the vice-captain missed the Hearts loss due to a hamstring issue picked up at Celtic.
Of course, it’s a good thing that head knocks are being taken more seriously nowadays, however, Killie fans would be forgiven for sighing when watching another key player hobble off injured.
Lyons looked dazed, so, there was no way he could’ve been risked to play on, as Liam Polworth was substituted on in his place.
Thankfully, with no game next week, it’s not as if there is a risk of him missing the next game against St Johnstone in a fortnight.
But with Kyle Vassell, Matty Kennedy, Robby McCrorie, Stuart Findlay and Innes Cameron all still absent, the constant concern over picking up fresh injuries is weakening the prospect of an upturn in form, which is a big worry.
Here are some of Derek McInnes’ thoughts post-match…
“It needs to be said, we’ve played so much better this season and not got anything from the game.
“I thought Dundee United were better than us in that first-half particularly. They look like a team that’s taking a lot of confidence from where they are in the league.
“We went a team to match their energy with the likes of Allan Campbell playing, and wee Stephenson could run all day.
“In the first-half, our wingers became like full-backs because we weren’t getting that dominance. You’d have to say half-time came at a good time for us.
“You should never pick a team to deal with set plays, but there is no doubt we were short of size with leaving Robbie Deas out. We had to take that vulnerability away and try to assert ourselves. We changed shape and I think it helped us.
“And then we got the goal, which gave us something to hang onto.
“Look, the goal was scabby and it’s untidy from their point of view, but there is nothing controversial about it - their keeper should have been stronger.
“We were keen to win the game, and there are different ways of winning games.
“In the context of the season and where we are, we showed so many other aspects of our game to get the job done. We stood up to it. I thought Joe Wright was magnificent.
“It’s a long two weeks if you don’t win the game. Hopefully, this little break allows us to get one or two back, and Brad will be fine after his concussion.
“I’ve known wee Bruce [Anderson] for so long. He plays better with a physical striker. With no Vassell or Cameron, Marley has got to be that for us right now. He takes the hits, he’s a strong boy.
“Bobby is winning the fight to play alongside him at the moment. Bruce and Bobby aren’t a great mix.
“Marley is important for us. If he can find his form he can be important for us in the run-in. We’re looking for everybody to find their form and step up really.
“I don’t think so (fans expecting movement in the transfer market). The long and short of it is we’re still making calls, knocking on doors to ask questions.
“I’m not expecting us to lose anybody because we’re a bit stretched at the minute.
“I think we have the answers in the building, although we do have some key players missing.
“I wouldn’t want to bring someone in just to sit on the bench. We’ll try hard to bring somebody in, but we can’t make those promises, unfortunately.”