St Andrews Utd 2-1 Dalkeith Thistle

The game proved to be the most entertaining of the season so far with three goals scored, two missed penalties and four red cards.

The first chance of the contest fell to the visitors’ Michael Fairnie yet Kyle Moran made a smart looking save, not long after discovering that he was replacing Connor Shaw between the posts.

Saints then took the lead in the eleventh minute when Michael Fleming cut the ball back towards Ali Wilkinson and the young loanee from East Fife made no mistake.

Graeme Hart went close with a header from distance as he provided St Andrews United’s attack with a good focal point.

The Jags earned a penalty on the half-hour mark when a shot that was heading wide of Moran’s goal struck Ryan O’Connor’s arm yet the former made a terrific save to prevent Guy Kerr from converting the spot kick.

Owen Andrew then collected an unnecessary yellow card for dissent and Jake Grady very nearly made the score 2-0 in the 45th minute when he cleverly beat Dalkeith’s off-side trap.

Unfortunately, the young striker didn’t quite catch his shot properly.

The visiting goalkeeper launched one final kick of the half up the park and Ryan O’Connor collided with Kyle Sneddon as both players went to head clear.

Stephen Anderson found himself in acres of space and he side-footed the ball between Moran’s legs to make the score 1-1.

Both managers turned the air blue during the interval with a few choice words but their players struggled with the increasingly wet and muddy conditions.

Jack Burrows received a second yellow card in the 63rd minute for bundling Ryan McInnes to the ground near the half way line.

United’s numerical advantage only lasted four minutes after Ryan O’Connor promptly collected his second booking of the afternoon for tugging Ryan Weston’s shirt.

The ensuing passage of play saw the action switch from end to end and Matthew Johnston fired a shot narrowly past Moran’s left-hand post.

The next goal went the way of St Andrews United as McInnes broke down the left in the 71st minute before spotting Grady’s run through the middle.

McInnes capped a fine personal display by crossing for Grady to stab the ball past Dowie with his left foot.

Unfortunately, Grady missed another chance to complete his double moments later and Owen failed to make the points safe from the penalty spot in the 90th minute.

By that stage in the contest, the referee was really struggling to maintain order in the face of substantial dissent from all angles.

But the United boys managed to keep better discipline than their opponents.

Ronan Clelland collected a straight red card for scything down the impressive Ross Cunningham at the top corner of the Rec and Kerr received his marching orders a few seconds later by catching McInnes from behind in the process of giving away the penalty.

Five other Dalkeith players were shown yellow cards throughout the fixture for various indiscretions yet they very nearly nicked a point right at the death when Moran produced a wonderful save to tip a well-directed shot from Anderson over the bar to earned his man of the match award for his efforts.