Report as Dundee United eased past Ross County in the Scottish Premiership; after a tepid first half, the hosts took the lead through Luca Stephenson before Sam Dalby netted his fourth goal in five games with teenage substitute Owen Stirton adding a third in stoppage time
Saturday 9 November 2024 20:19, UK
Dundee United secured an ultimately comfortable 3-0 victory over Ross County at Tannadice.
After a tepid first half, the hosts took the lead through Luca Stephenson before Sam Dalby netted his fourth goal in five games, with teenage substitute Owen Stirton adding a third in stoppage time.
The victory cemented United's fourth place in the Premiership table while the Staggies remain ninth.
United made just one change to the side that drew against Hibs last Sunday with Jort van der Sande coming in for Glenn Middleton who dropped to the bench.
The Staggies made three alterations to the starting line-up from last week's 0-0 draw at St Mirren with Ryan Leak, Aidan Denholm and Ronan Hale being drafted in for Josh Reid, Noah Chilvers and Jack Grieves who were all named as substitutes.
County had a great opportunity to open the scoring in just the eighth minute when Elijah Campbell found Jordan White with an inswinging corner from the right but the big striker could only direct his close-range header over home 'keeper Jack Walton's crossbar.
The hosts created an opening of their own but Staggies skipper Connor Randall rushed back to make a vital intervention as United captain David Babunski prepared to pull the trigger.
Shortly after, Vicko Sevelj stung the County 'keeper's palms with a fierce long-range drive with the ball eventually being cleared.
The Staggies put together a promising move just before the half-hour mark that ended with a shot from Campbell but his 22-yard drive was always rising and flew over Walton's bar.
United upped the tempo at the start of the second period and they came agonisingly close to taking the lead when Vicko Sevelj hit an angled, curling shot that smashed off Ross Laidlaw's right-hand post.
However, the Terrors would not be denied and finally broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when Will Ferry produced an outstanding cross into the Staggies box towards Stephenson who gave Laidlaw no chance, sending a powerful diving header into the back of the net.
United's tails were up and they doubled their advantage in the 68th minute when Babunski found Dalby with a ball over the top and the on-loan Wrexham striker raced through on goal, keeping his cool to slot past Laidlaw.
The Staggies came close to pulling a goal back but sub Eamonn Brophy's snap-shot from the edge of the United box flew just over.
Instead, it was United who had the last say in the 92nd minute with Stirton heading home just seconds after coming off the bench for his first goal for the club.
Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin on seeing teenager Owen Stirton scoring: "I was delighted for him - he will get a bit of stick off the boys for coming over to me, no doubt!
"It was a really proud moment for the kid and for his family. To score it at that end in front of the home supporters, it's Roy of the Rovers-type stuff really.
"Since coming into the club 18 months ago as a full-time player, he's been pretty much with my first team because I think that much of him.
"Physically he's still developing and has a lot to do in terms of the technical aspect of the game.
"I believed he would get an opportunity in the last few minutes. There's no better way to get your first Premiership goal, just stick your head on the ball two yards out. I'm sure he will remember that moment for a long, long time."
Ross County boss Don Cowie: "I'm really disappointed. I thought it was a really even game in the first half so I was happy with the performance.
"I thought we were really good, defended well and were a threat. I was in a good place at half-time with what I was seeing.
"The challenge in the second half was always going to be United shooting into their own fans.
"We managed to withstand that in the first 10 minutes of the second half then get a foothold back in the game. So to concede in the time and manner we did was the real disappointment.
"We had a long time to get back into it and deal with that adversity - but we didn't deal with it well at all. We want to score goals and win games of football. We'll keep working on it and try to improve, be better.
"We have been really sound defensively recently without scoring goals, so it's about getting that balance and both sides of the game."
