Hibernian 2 Dundee United 1

5th October 2002
Scottish Premier League
Attendance: 9,175

Scorers:
Hibernian: O'Connor, Murray.
Dundee Utd: Thomson.

This is a copy of a report of the game as it appeared in the Scotland on Sunday on Sunday 6th October 2002

Forward and back as Townsley rides his luck

THERE was surely no-one inside Easter Road on Saturday more relieved to see a couple of late Dundee United efforts crash off the woodwork than Hibernian’s midfielder-cum-defender Derek Townsley.

Hibs’ recent resurgence - two Premierleague wins on the trot against Kilmarnock and Livingston - had coincided with the Englishman being dropped to the bench.

However, manager Bobby Williamson restored the player to the starting 11 on Saturday, albeit out of position, and Townsley, who slotted into the centre of defence in place of the injured Gary Smith, proved to himself and supporters that he is not some sort of weak link.

"I felt a bit aggrieved when I was left out the past couple of weeks," said Townsley, who, in the first half especially, always looked one step ahead of United strikers Steven Thompson and Derek Lilley.

"I’ve kept my head down and given the manager the positive reaction that I think he was looking for. I am pleased that we hung on and got the result because I would have felt pretty terrible if I had come back into the team and we had lost."

Townsley, who plays as a defender in bounce games in training, was not the only Hibs player to impress. Another was Finnish midfielder Jarkko Wiss, who won plenty of challenges, even if his distribution left a lot to be desired, while captain Ian Murray seems to add to his burgeoning reputation every week.

It was Murray who laid on the hosts’ opener on 29 minutes, the midfielder crossing for striker Garry O’Connor to lift the ball over United keeper Paul Gallacher from six yards.

And Murray doubled Hibs’ lead on 51 minutes with a goal-of-the-season contender. From the halfway line, the Scotland under-21 player ran towards the goal and, ignoring O’Connor’s dart into space, unleashed a 20-yard right-foot shot which flew past Gallacher.

That goal seemed to jolt United manager Alex Smith to introduce Charlie Miller. The midfielder almost single-handedly dragged his team out of their slumber and the visitors halved the deficit when another sub, Stephen Carson, squared for Thompson to bundle the ball past Nick Colgan.

Craig Easton smacked a header off the bar from a Carson corner in the 90th minute and Thompson hit the woodwork in injury time as United pressed. But it was too little, too late.

And so it begs the question: why was Miller left out in the first place? "I didn’t leave Charlie on the bench," said Smith. "Charlie leaves himself on the bench. Charlie Miller should be going with the Scotland party to Iceland this week, but he is not. He is a talented player, but we need to get him playing to his peak."

HOME