16th May 1996 Dundee United 2 Partick Thistle 1 (Scottish Premier Division/First Division play-off, 2nd leg)

matches:1995-96: ← 45game 4601 →

	Billy Kirkwood	Murdo MacLeod	37y, 7m, 22d

		Tom Smith
		Rod McDonald

Brian Welsh (1-1, 90 mins); Owen Coyle (1-2, 115 mins)		Ian Cameron [i] (1-0, pen 72 mins)

Gary McSwegan (Owen Coyle, 83 mins); Robbie Winters (Grant Johnson, 117 mins); Craig Brewster (Ray McKinnon, 119 mins)		Derek McWilliams (Alan Dinnie, 54 mins); Jamie McCue (Nicky Henderson, 82 mins)

	Ally Maxwell	Nicky Walker	33y, 7m, 17d
	Rab Shannon	Callum Milne	30y, 8m, 19d
	Jamie McQuilken	Gregg Watson	25y, 7m, 25d
	Steven Pressley	Tom Smith	22y, 7m, 4d
	Brian Welsh	Jim Slavin	21y, 3m, 28d
	Christian Dailly	Steve Welsh	28y, 0m, 27d
	Robbie Winters	Billy Macdonald	19y, 7m, 29d
	Dave Bowman	Derek McWilliams	30y, 4m, 0d
	Gary McSwegan	Jamie McCue	20y, 10m, 17d
	Craig Brewster	Ian Cameron [i]	29y, 8m, 22d
	future Jag Andy McLaren	Andy Lyons	29y, 6m, 27d

			26y, 6m, 23d

	n-a	Mark Cairns	26y, 7m, 21d
	Grant Johnson	Nicky Henderson	27y, 3m, 8d
	Ray McKinnon	Alan Dinnie	33y, 0m, 2d
	Owen Coyle

TTA report

McWilliams went close early on but Walker's fine saves kept it 0-0 at half-time. United pressure continued but Cameron's pen (72) put Thistle ahead. They were denied a pen then 40 secs from the end United scored with a header when Watson dithered. A tap-in by O Coyle finally relegated Thistle (115) 2-3 on agg.

Media report

17-May-1996, Daily Record

Supersub Owen Coyle fired Dundee United back into the big time last night and beamed: “I knew I'd score.” The £400,000 signing from Bolton paid back his huge transfer fee with a dramatic extra-time winner as United dumped Partick Thistle 2-1. Coyle begged boss Billy Kirkwood to send him on with United trailing to Ian Cameron's 72nd minute penalty. He saw Brian Welsh head in a sensational last-minute equaliser - then grabbed the glory to earn United a 3-2 aggregate win.

Coyle said: “I told Kirkie to get me off the bench and I'd score the winner. I'm a confident guy and I've always believed I was a big occasion player. We're back in our rightful place, although we've done it the hard way - and you've got to feel heart sorry for the Thistle lads.” Last year Coyle scored Bolton's play-off winner against Reading at Wembley and he added: “I always felt I could do it again. Even when there were only seconds left I sensed it wasn't over. And after Brian's goal I was convinced we'd win it.”

Kirkie, who has gambled pounds 2 million on getting United back to the Premier League at the first attempt, said: “I've never known such a dramatic night in football. I thought it was going to be one of those games where we just weren't going to take our chances. But we've lost a lot of late goals this season, so we deserved this one and we deserved the win. It's important for us that we've come up, but it's also important for Scottish football that we're back. The Premier should be all about facilities, pitches and players.”

Welsh, who forced extra-time after earlier conceding the penalty, thought United had blown it. He admitted: “It was nerve-wracking stuff. I thought it was all over, but you always have a wee chance. That's the most important goal I've ever scored for United and I was so relieved after the penalty incident. I didn't think it was a penalty. The ref thought I pushed the player, but I didn't touch him.”

Jags boss Murdo MacLeod was gutted. He sighed: “I thought we were on our way and we were until a terrible mistake let them in for their equaliser. Once they scored it gave them a great lift. Right before that I thought we had a stonewall penalty, but you have to go with the referee's decision and he thought otherwise. We'd battled away and deserved to be in front when we scored, but you never think it's over until the final whistle goes. This is the biggest disappointment I've ever had - not for myself, but for my players and our fans.”

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