United Defeated On Penalties

It was Hampden heartbreak as United were defeated on penalties to Hibernian at the national stadium this afternoon. By Joe James United made four changes to the side that was last weekend turned over by Inverness at Tannadice, Sean Dillon coming in for the departed Gavin Gunning whilst Coll Donaldson, Chris Erskine and Blair Spittal entered the starting eleven in place of Guy Demel, Henri Anier and Paul Dixon. It was largely a quiet start to the match, no real chances coming until just before the ten minute mark when Fraser Fyvie struck a long distance effort just over the crossbar. Despite being caved in for the majority of the opening half hour, United were presented with a huge opportunity to open the scoring when Billy Mckay raced in on goal one-on-one, however, the striker's effort was well blocked by Hibs debutant Conrad Logan. Shortly after Mckay's attempt, Hibs were awarded a penalty from a Coll Donaldson handball, but Cummings's dinked penalty was chipped inches above the crossbar. It was a better performance in the second half for United, Ryan Dow coming close with an effort from inside the box, however, his strike was cleared off the line. The game went into extra time and, with only a few minutes before the break, Anier passed up a golden opportunity to open the scoring when his strike from close-range was saved by the physical presence of Hibs keeper Logan. With no goals by the end of extra-time the game went to a penalty shoot-out, with Hibernian advancing to the Scottish Cup Final after Blair Spittal and Billy Mckay missed their spot-kicks. United: Kawashima, Dillon, Morris (Dixon '33), Donaldson (Demel '73), Knoyle, Rankin, Paton, Erskine (Anier '75), Spittal, Dow, Mckay Unused subs: Zwick, Ofere, Fraser, Sinama-Pongolle Hibernian: Logan, Gray, McGregor, Hanlon, Stevenson, Bartley, Fyvie, Henderson (Boyle '85), McGinn, Cummings Stokes (El Alagui '78) ( Dagnall '96) Unused subs: Virtanen, Handling, Gunnarasson, Thomson Referee: John Beaton