A deep and potentially damaging scar was applied to an already ugly encounter at Tannadice last night as Dundee United were forced to play the closing stages of their Premier League play-off final first leg undermanned after the dismissal of striker Simon Murray.

Already booked for a similar offence in the first half, Murray was shown a second yellow card for diving in the 77th minute of the tie when, in fact, McMann clearly brought him down inside the penalty area, the decision apparently having been made by assistant referee Graham Chambers.

In a strange end to the match they were not unduly troubled however since, having used all three of their substitutes, Hamilton were themselves effectively undermanned with both Massimo Donati and Dougie Imrie struggling with injuries, however it was probably the right outcome since neither side really did enough to deserve to take an advantage into the decider.

Having already come through two rounds of play-offs United’s tiredness and the extra sharpness Premier League opponents bring to proceedings was causing them problems, in particular for Wato Duate, the Portuguese midfielder who joined the Championship club only in March, who was dangerously caught in possession several times.

It took 20 minutes for the home team to generate their first real opportunity, Blair Spittal releasing Paul Dixon on the left and his teasing cross almost ricocheted into Thomas Mikkelson’s path before Matthews gathered as the striker’s boot slid just past his nose.

Half an hour into proceedings an extra edge might have been added when Simon Murray was yellow carded for being deemed to have gone down too easily, albeit their did seem to be at least a hint of contact as he pushed the ball beyond Massimo Donati and set off in pursuit inside the box wide on the left, however the match still failed to catch fire and an undistinguished opening half was duly completed goal-less.

There was a much livelier start to the second half as United took their turn to launch a counter-attack, Spittal disposessing Ali Crawford on halfway and racing up in support of Murray to create a three on two and raging at his team-mate when the return ball was not delivered to him as he raced unmarked into the penalty area, the striker instead opting for a shot that was too easily blocked.

Hamilton responded and a Templeton shot from inside the box on left was deflected by Sean Dillon, leaving Kerr helpless as the ball spun across him and past his left post.

As the corner was being lined up Dillon and Duate then engaged in a Richard Foster/Danny Swanson moment, squaring up to one another, an incident which finally saw United manager Ray McKinnon’s patience snap as he removed Duate from the fray at the next opportunity and the youngster further alienated himself by earning the wrath of his team’s supporters by applauding the decision sarcastically before heading to the dressing rooms rather than the dug out.

His replacement, Charlie Telfer, made a near instant impact when his corner from the right was met beyond the far post by Mikkelson whose looping header looked to have sufficient pace on it to find Matthews’ top right corner, before the goal-keeper threw himself high to his right to turn it over.

Then came the night’s big talking point as Murray saw red, referee Steven McLean initially looked as if he was going to make what would have been the right decision by awarding a penalty but hesitated and looked for help from assistant Chambers who waved his flag and indicated that the decision should go the other way, the second yellow card being shown after they had consulted.