Man for all reasons

Sunday 1 April 2012

PETER Houston, the Dundee United manager, was in danger of running out of superlatives as he delivered a glowing appraisal of Jon Daly's attributes.

Jon Daly celebrates the first of a sparkling double strike for Dundee United against Dunfermline Photograph: SNS

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David Friel

Captain, talisman, inspiration and all-round good guy. That was the gist of it. In truth, Daly deserved plaudits. His double took his SPL tally to 17 for the season and allowed him to overtake Celtic's Gary Hooper in the scoring charts. He has scored 20 in all this term and 56 in his United career. Impressive statistics all in.

Afterwards, there was hushed talk the striker could be in the running for various player of the year awards and Houston would have no problem with that. Throughout the course of the season, Daly has been a dependable, often inspirational, presence for United.Dunfermline may be favourites for relegation, but Daly again showed his class with two emphatic finishes. His first, a spectacular volley, was a thing of beauty. Scott Robertson was also on target as United edged to within five points of third-placed Motherwell. Dunfermline remain rooted to the bottom."Jon has been unbelievable," said Houston. "When David Goodwillie left in the summer, I wondered who would score the goals for us. Well that's Jon now top scorer in the SPL above Hooper. Guys like Johnny Russell have benefited from playing next to him and are improving because of Jon. I'm delighted for Jon and he deserves all the praise going."Houston admitted he was "worried" about the game and Jim Jefferies' approach could have been viewed as either realistic or negative. United have been in free-scoring mood of late, so the Dunfermline manager sacrificed a forward and introduced Kevin Rutkiewicz in a 4-5-1 set-up. Bernardo Dominguez, the club's new Spanish goalkeeper, did not make the squad.United, as expected, were very protective of the ball as they hogged possession. Dunfermline, and Jordan McMillan in particular, tried their best to unsettle the hosts, but it didn't work. United can look after themselves.Creating chances was more difficult. Despite their dominance, Chris Smith, the Dunfermline goalkeeper, only had one genuine save to make in the opening 45 minutes. Gary Mackay-Steven's mazy run finished with a shot that was batted away by Smith.United's other chances fell to full-backs. Paul Dixon's technique was admirable as he met Smith's unconvincing punch on the volley, but his accuracy was marginally out. Robbie Neilson then wasted a glaring opportunity when he blazed over from six yards with no defender near him.Alex Keddie was one of the Dunfermline players posted missing on that occasion, but he made his presence felt in the opposition box when he met Joe Cardle's free-kick. Alas, his header was too heavy and Dusan Pernis watched as it soared over. Jefferies would have been content at the break. Dunfermline had, in his own words, "contained" United without ever posing too much of a threat. The main topic in his half-time team talk was concentration. Give nothing away he told his players. That lasted four minutes.Give Daly his due for a sublime finish. When the ball came to him after Dunfermline failed to clear a corner, there seemed little danger. Yet he somehow managed to swivel and send an acrobatic volley past Smith. "I was pleased with it," was Daly's modest response.It could have opened the floodgates, but didn't. Jefferies has at least installed a resolve in Dunfermline's play, but as the clock ticked, spaces started to appear and United made their extra quality count.Mackay-Steven blew the Dunfermline defence away with a mix of skill and pace. before providing a low cross. Robertson had timed his run perfectly and smashed home from close range.Daly then added some gloss to the score. Russell, strangely subdued, found a pocket of space and fed his strike partner. The finish was clinical as he moved ahead of Hooper in the scoring charts."Every striker wants to score 20 goals in a season and I've managed to get there with six games to spare," said Daly. "Of course I want to finish as top scorer, but Hooper is a top player and I'd back him to get a few more. So I need to do the same, but it's a good position to be in."Jefferies had no complaints and stressed Dunfermline's real battle will come after the split, when they play the teams around them. "We won't face a side of that class again," he said. "The post-split games are vital. It's about results, not performances."Man for all reasons

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