Disappointed McKinlay takes it out on Hearts

21 Nov 1994

BILLY McKinlay was so annoyed with himself for his midweek display in a Scotland jersey that someone just had to suffer.

It was Hearts who found themselves on the wrong side of his inspiration as McKinlay prompted the previously struggling Dundee United to a 5-2 premier division victory at Tannadice.

By his own admission, the midfield player's contribution to last midweek's Scotland performance in the drawn European championship match with Russia at Hampden Park fell below the 25-year-old's expectation at international level.

It worried him.

As he explained: "I am desperate to play for my country, and recognise that, to remain involved with Scotland, I have to perform better than I did against the Russians.

"Therefore, having failed to maintain my standards in the international, the only other way to retain an interest in the squad is by producing it for my club.

So I suppose you could say that I was spurred on by that Scotland disappointment."

The extent of his determination helped to produce United's best result and performance of what has been a season of lows to date for Ivan Golac's squad -- the trouncing of a Hearts side which currently is suffering because of recent departures and other absences.

The Tynecastle outfit have missed the services of an entire rearguard during recent weeks, with Steve Frail, Craig Levein, Alan McLaren, and Tosh McKinlay having been lost through either suspension or transfers.

It made Saturday's fourteenth-minute departure of limping central defender Neil Berry even harder to take by the visitors.

He was sadly missed.

United, sensing at that early stage an opportunity to end a five-game league series without a win, acted on McKinlay's polished leadership to adopt a dominating and deadly role.

Kevin Thomas had stunned the hosts with his opportunist opener in just four minutes, but Grant Johnson took advantage of the first of Hearts' defensive deficiencies to power home his first goal of the season with an equaliser 60 seconds later.

Then came Berry's untimely departure.

Craig Brewster took immediate advantage of the exit to rise alone and nod home a McKinlay corner, and the star himself had the fans cheering with a marvellous finish from 20 yards after 19 minutes to net his first of the season for United.

The boost to confidence derived from that goal burst was reflected in the overall performance of United, and under-21 cap Christian Dailly got himself into the scoring act with a beauty from the edge of the penalty area just prior to the interval whistle.

Understandably, the second half produced less in the way of goals, but plenty in the way of attractive football as Tommy McLean's visitors attempted to pass their way back into the contest.

In the only second-half strikes, Dailly completed his double with a superb headed finish, while the always-alert Kevin Thomas further underlined his promise for the future with a second opportunist goal.

Taken from the Herald