Dundee United could not have picked a more humiliating way to bow out. As if their long, traumatic season hadn’t been embarrassing enough, here they were, being relegated from the Ladbrokes Premiership at the home of their city rivals.
Dens Park isn’t just enemy territory, it is the the scene of United’s finest hour, the place where, on 14 May 1986, Jim McLean, their manager, was carried shoulder-high across the turf as they won the title under Dundee’s noses.
Thirty-three years later, it was payback time. Edward Ofere last night did his best to spare them the ordeal by opening the scoring early in the second half, but a scrappy equaliser and a stoppage-time winner by young Craig Wighton rounded off an excruciating experience for United.
When Wighton swept a free kick low into the bottom corner, the final whistle followed and the goading began. One or two Dundee fans invaded the pitch and taunted their United rivals, who had to be restrained by police as they sought to respond.
With this victory, Dundee moved up to seventh in the table, as if that mattered in the slightest to their fans, who were preoccupied with their opponents. Next season will be just the second time since 1960 that United have been in Scotland’s second tier.
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Dundee’s supporters had come along purely to revel in their neighbours’ misfortune. The public announcer at Dens Park had been cautioned against any mischief with his choice of music, but a pre-match blast of Blue Monday suggested that he was going to push the boundaries. The fans were rather less circumspect. “Down, down, Dundee United go,” was their refrain to the strains of Petula Clark.
To no-one’s great surprise, the away stand housed a relatively modest United support, many of whom took the opportunity to have a go at the club’s chairman, Stephen Thompson. “From European nights to relegation fights,” read one banner. “Thompson it’s time to go.”
The future of Mixu Paatelainen is also uncertain. Results have not improved under his guidance, which has included a variety of tactics and team selections, the latest of which had fans scratching their heads. Billy Mckay, their only proven scorer, was sacrificed so Ofere and Simon Murray could start in attack.
Not that either saw much of the ball during a fraught first half in which United’s fear and Dundee’s lack of composure combined to prevent a match breaking out. It was messy, unimaginative fare, punctuated by the occasional cross, the odd wayward header and a few nasty skirmishes on the fringes.
There is no love lost between these sides. Paul Dixon, who was booked for hacking down Greg Stewart, was caught up in an ugly tangle with Paul McGowan, who later sloped off with a shoulder injury after a clash with John Rankin. As the Dundee midfielder headed for the tunnel, a sarcastic thumbs-up was his response to bating from the United support.
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Dundee were doing all the running, but it didn’t get them anywhere. Only as the interval approached were they able to carve out any scoring opportunities. The best came after a mistake by Dixon allowed Stewart to pick out Nick Ross who in turn fed Kane Hemmings. The striker was unmarked on the edge of the penalty box, but he lifted his shot over the bar. Inspired by that development, Craig Wighton cut inside and struck a low shot that the goalkeeper saved.
United needed a foothold in the game, and it came after half-time. Ofere had made little impact but he and his strike partner emerged from the interval with their tails up. First, there was a penalty claim, turned down after Murray fell in the box. Then, miraculously, a goal. Murray’s excellent work on the left set up Rankin to square the ball for Ofere to slot in.
Suddenly, United were up for it, first to every loose ball and stretching their opponents. Ross cleared Mark Durnan’s header from the line and Scott Bain, the Dundee goalkeeper, thwarted Ofere’s effort, but as the game loosened up so did United’s defence.
The goal that undid all their good work was not pretty, but it counted, much to Eiki Kawashima’s frustration. When the United goalkeeper failed to deal with Gary Harkins’ cross, Kosta Gadzhalov directed a header towards the bottom corner, where Hemmings stood to make sure it crossed the line.
Between then and full-time, there was a desperate exchange of chances. Chris Erskine had a shot tipped over at one end before Hemmings and Etxabeguren both had headers flicked away at the other, but it was Wighton, in the dying seconds, who sealed United’s fate.
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Dundee 4-2-3-1: S Bain 6 -P McGinn 6, K Gadzhalov 7, D O’Dea 6, K Holt 6 - P McGowan 3 (sub: J Etxabeguren 16 6), N Ross 6 - G Stewart 7, G Harkins 6, C Wighton 7 - K Hemmings 6. Substitutes not used: D Mitchell, T Konrad, D Meggatt, Arturo, C Colquhoun, J Curren. Booked: Bain, Stewart
Dundee United 4-4-2: E Kawashima 5 - K Knoyle 6, M Durnan 6, S Dillon 6, P Dixon 5 - S Fraser 5 (sub: R Dow 62 5), P Paton 6, J Rankin 6, B Spittal 6 (sub: B Mckay 86) - E Ofere 6, S Murray 6 (sub: C Erskine 72)
Substitutes not used: L Zwick, C Morris, B Mckay, C Erskine, R Dow, H Anier, C Donaldson. Booked: Dixon, Kawashima, Paton, Dillon
Referee: W Collum
Attendance: 10,088