Stranraer vs Dundee United. Scottish Cup Fifth Round.
Stair ParkAttendance1,491.
Sunday 8 February 2015 15:43, UK
Dundee United clinched a place in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup with a comfortable 3-0 victory over League One leaders Stranraer.
Following a scrappy start to the match, United scored three times in 10 minutes with Ryan Dow’s brace following Chris Erskine’s opening goal at Stair Park.
Erskine (21) was alert to a misplaced pass from Sean Winter which left Craig Pettigrew flat-footed and the United forward strode into the penalty area and slipped the ball through the legs of the advancing David Mitchell.
Four minutes later, Rado Cierzniak had to be alert to claw the ball away as a defensive header from United defender Callum Morris at a Stranraer corner almost slipped inside the post.
But United doubled their advantage within 90 seconds as Dow latched on to a long pass from Sean Dillon to skip by Scott Rumsby and cut inside Frank McKeown before lifting the ball over the goalkeeper.
United stuck again after Nadir Ciftci rolled a weighted pass through the centre of the Stranraer defence and Dow rounded ‘keeper Mitchell before tucking the ball into the empty net.
Stranraer almost pulled a goal back seven minutes before the break when McKeown climbed above Cierzniak at a corner but Ryan McGowan headed the ball off the line.
United seemed content to sit on their advantage after the interval but survived a scare when Morris was almost caught out by Craig Malcolm, as he tried to shepherd the ball back to Cierzniak, and had to be rescued by the United stopper.
Cierzniak also got behind the ball to hold a firm drive from Stephen Aitken from 25-yards at a free-kick, but Stranraer were unable to grab a consolation.
Charlie Telfer came close in the final minute for United with a free-kick from 25-yards, but 'keeper Mitchell tipped the ball over the bar.
