McNamara Praises United Killer Instinct

*Picture By Jeff Holmes *

Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara praised the way his team killed Stranraer off early in the William Hill Scottish Cup.

The Tannadice side put three past the lower league outfit in just 10 first-half minutes to secure a 3-0 victory.

Chris Erskine kept his cool to slot under the goalkeeper after 21 minutes before Ryan Dow scored two goals in four minutes to make the tie safe with barely half an hour played.

McNamara said: I thought we were clinical in the first half. Second half was more scrappy and more kick and rush but you have to give Stranraer credit for that.

Although it was not pretty the most important thing from our point of view is that we are in the draw tomorrow.

I thought Ryan's two goals were excellent. His first one was clever to get inside and then the second was a great pass and then composure to go round the keeper and slot it.

I think it settled us down.''

The early stages of the cup tie were tight with neither team able to create an opening.

United blew the contest wide open though after 21 minutes. Erskine picked up on a loose pass to run through on Stranraer keeper David Mitchell to slot home with a low finish.

Dow capitalised on a slip from Scott Rumsby to make it 2-0 before rounding the keeper three minutes later after a through-ball from Nadir Ciftci.

Stranraer had a header cleared off the line by Ryan McGowan before the break but rarely troubled United stopper Radoslaw Cierzniak.

United could have made it worse for the home side in stoppage time at the end of the match but Charlie Telfer's free-kick was brilliantly saved by Mitchell.

Stranraer boss Stevie Aitken did not think his side deserved to lose by a three-goal margin.

He said: It was clinical, no doubt about that. They have been clinical all season. It's not just today, they done it against Premiership teams all season.

I'm disappointed with the way we lost the goals, especially the first two, but I thought overall we competed well.''