Dundee United head coach Tam Courts has hailed his side for their penalty shoot-out win at Ayr United to set up a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.
Trailing to a Tomi Adeloye goal on 56 minutes, United equalised from the spot late on through Nicky Clark after Ayr defender Jack Baird was sent off for a collision with Ryan Edwards.
The Terrors would go on to seal progression yesterday thanks to two saves from captain for the day Benjamin Siegrist in the shoot-out as Clark, once again, tucked away the decisive kick.
Although they toiled at times against the Championship side, Courts was pleased they ‘found the solutions’ to win through in the end.
‘Grit, determination and togetherness’
“It was ding-dong cup affair that went exactly as we expected,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be a really competitive game.
“When we were in the Championship we didn’t actually win at Somerset Park so we knew it was going to be a tough venue for us.
“I’m really pleased for the players that they found the solutions and we’re now in the quarter-finals.”
United couldn’t reach the heights of their 1-0 win over Rangers the weekend previous but the result was what mattered for Courts.
He continued: “I’d like to give Ayr some credit, I thought they started well.
“Our best result in the Championship was a draw so I knew it was going to be tough.
“David Hopkin and Jim Duffy kept us very honest.
“The grit, determination, togetherness and quality showed in the end.
“It was a real carnival atmosphere and was always going to be a completely different game to Rangers.
“We stuck at the task and, thankfully, we’re through.
“It’s a great feeling. We hadn’t progressed out of the group stages in the last three seasons so that was the first target for me and we’re now one game from Hampden.”
‘Horrific’ penalty call says Hoppy
Ayr boss David Hopkin wasn’t best pleased with referee Nick Walsh’s decision to give United a penalty with 10 minutes remaining – labelling his call “horrific”.
Hopkin believes the Honest Men were the side who deserved to progress to the last eight.
He said: “We were always going to go at Dundee United and anybody at the game would’ve seen there was only one team who should’ve won.
“The decision to give a penalty and send Jack off was horrific.
“It turned a fantastic cup-tie into a training session.
“It was extra soft. I’ve seen it back – the ball’s out the pitch, nobody claims for it and the referee decides to get involved in the game.
“Dundee United didn’t look like scoring and the only way it was going to come was through a mistake or a poor decision.”