McLean's Class of '90 show some resilience

19 Nov 1990

TEAM selections in the premier division over the past few years appear to have backed the argument that experience will always dominate the promise of youth at the top level of the Scottish game.

Clearly, Jim McLean and his Tannadice backroom staff do not adhere to that point of view as they attempt to finalise a transitional period forced on them by key departures.

The blending of different age groups appears to have worked the oracle, with the Tangerines sitting pretty at the head of the league table.

There have been hiccups en route, but a record of just two league defeats in 13 starts confirms that the mix in general has proved effective.

Criticisms of "lack of bottle" have been aimed at United for years, but judging by Saturday's comeback which earned a share of the points against Hearts, those claims are not relevant to Jim McLean's Class of '90.

Faced by a Tynecastle outfit with an average edge of three years in experience, the home side refused to lie down, and in the end gained their deserved reward.

In the first period the visitors ruled the roost.

Alan Main was fortunate to have picked the ball out of his net just once, when Craig Levein scored with a header from a John Colquhoun corner in 35 minutes.

In that opening stage, there was a determination about Hearts' play.

The visitors were dominant in midfield, and the ammunition to the front men was of such quality that Colquhoun, Foster, and Robertson caused continual distress among the home defenders.

However, things changed after the interval, with United finding a midfield solution to bring about an almost complete reversal of the earlier pattern.

Hearts might argue that another factor in this process was their villain of the piece .

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Edinburgh referee Andrew Waddell.

Two controversial decisions in the space of seven second-half minutes threatened to ruin their afternoon.

Waddell's award of a free kick rather than a penalty caused the initial fury after home skipper Maurice Malpas clashed with Wayne Foster.

Soon afterwards, United's Ray McKinnon went down in the box at the other end, and Waddell pointed to the spot.

Darren Jackson converted.

It took all of Joe Jordan's self-control later to keep himself out of hot water with the authorities.

However, such restraint clearly has not yet been transferred from Hearts' managerial office to the dressing room.

The names of yellow-carded Tosh McKinlay, John Colquhoun, and Wayne Foster were added to the previous Saturday's tally of a red card and four cautions in the game against Celtic.

Taken from the Herald