Jim Goodwin admits that Dundee United let their fans down against Dunfermline as the Tangerines boss lamented a miserable first-half display in their 3-1 defeat.
Goals from Matty Todd and Kane Ritchie-Hosler sent the Pars in at the break with a 2-0 lead, with Goodwin acknowledging that United lost their individual battles and didn’t do the basics.
Hosler struck again in the second period, while United got on the scoresheet courtesy of a Kyle Benedictus own goal.
“The opening 45 minutes is where we lost the game,” said Goodwin.
“We got a lot of pats on the back for our recent away performances at Partick Thistle – a hard fought draw – and the win at Morton where we showed all the battling qualities you need.
“Tonight, we didn’t start the game properly.
“The pitch obviously makes life difficult, especially for us – a team that likes to get the ball down and play. We didn’t adapt to that, and it felt like they won all their individual battles.
“We didn’t pick up enough second balls in the midfield.
“Those are basic principles you need to gain momentum and Dunfermline did them a lot better than we did.”
Dusting themselves down
A third defeat in seven games for United means that Raith Rovers have a golden opportunity to move two points clear at the summit of the Championship when they travel to Queen’s Park on Saturday.
He added: “Tonight is sore. We had a great travelling support through, and we let them down in the opening 45 minutes.
“We created numerous chances in the second half and, if we had taken another one of them with 15 to 20 minutes to go, then it would have made the game interesting.
“However, there are seven games to go. The likelihood of us winning tonight and the next seven was going to be a big ask, so we have to accept what happened and move on to the next one.”
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