Dundee United 2

Hibernian 1

After extra time; 90mins (1-1)

Scorers: Dundee United - McIntrye (87, 107); Hibernian - Riordan (31)

PRESSURE on the Dundee United manager, Ian McCall, eased last night after a riveting cup tie. Hibernian looked to have the upper hand when Derek Riordan scored in the first half but a late rally from the Tannadice outfit took the quarter-final tie into extra-time.

A scrambled Jim McIntyre effort four minutes from time gave McCall's side the leveller they deserved after wasting countless chances. The striker then added another in the

second period of extra-time to seal his side's place in the next round.

A relieved McCall said: ''The players all fight for each other and for me. Hibs had a lot of young legs out there, but we ground them down. We are in a semi-final now, and that gives us something to look forward to. I hope we can build on this and start climbing the league.''

Hibs, runners up in the CIS Cup last season, came to Tayside confident they could line up a return to Hampden but left dejected.

''I thought we played well for long spells and dominated the game,'' said the Hibs manager, Tony Mowbray. ''Sometimes you don't get what you deserve, and this is one of those nights. We were probably too comfortable at times and didn't go looking for the second goal, so that came back to haunt us.''

It was fascinating to watch the different styles and fortunes of the respective strike forces as the game unfolded.

Riordan further cemented his growing reputation with a fine first-half goal, which he drilled low past Paul Jarvie. He also managed to hold the ball up well for a man so slight of build and gave the experienced Paul Ritchie a hard time.

United's front pairing of McIntyre and Jason Scotland weren't too bad in build-up play, but when the chips were down they froze in front of goal. McIntyre's late equaliser was the least they deserved for a sustained period of pressure.

However, the lack of a cutting edge must be a constant source of frustration for McCall, whose side looked compact in midfield, tight in defence but impotent in attack.

An indication of their lack of instinct in front of goal came 10 minutes before half-time, when Scotland hit the Hibernian goalkeeper, Simon Brown, when it looked easier to score, while only Chris Innes will know how he missed soon after with a back post header.

The midfielder, Derek McInnes, had an excellent back-post header on the hour mark saved by Brown, whose assurance kept the Hibs defence settled throughout.

From a Hibs point of view, the fact they defended too deep late on cost them a win. For all their good play in patches the young team lacked discipline.

Mowbray had to reorganise as early as the 17th minute, when Sam Morrow went off injured to be replaced by Stephen Fletcher, who put in a decent shift as substitute.

Their most impressive performer was the captain, Ian Murray, who played on the left side of midfield and galloped up and down the wing. Mark Wilson, who is considering legal action to have the red card he picked up against Dundee rescinded, was given a torrid time by the Hibs man.

These are dark days at

Tannadice, despite last night's win, and the dismal turnout suggests the fans are losing patience with a team that is stuck to the bottom of the SPL.

McCall has put together a decent squad of players at United but they don't have a man who can take a game by the scruff of the neck. The former Hibs player, Grant Brebner, is the only man with any sort of spark and even his creative juices are being drained by the need to track back to cover for the mistakes by others.

It was a match mostly played through the midfield although it degenerated in the second half with too many long balls, particularly from United, being punted into the opposition half.

These desperate measures included a blatant dive from Scotland in a bid to win a

second-half penalty, which John Rowbotham spotted and correctly booked the United striker for. McCall took off Scotland after 64 minutes, bringing on James Grady in an attempt to cause Hibs problems. The veteran is a difficult man to play against but the service to him was appalling.

He did slip away from the Hibs defence in 69 minutes after a mistake by Guillaume Beuzelin but, in keeping with the United strikeforce, shot weekly at Brown.

It was the late presence of Grady and his fellow substitute, Billy Dodds, both of whom the Hibs defence failed to swat, which brought United back into the game and led to the late equaliser by McIntyre and his extra-time winner.

McCall has a lot of work to do but he wouldn't be the first manager to have his season turned round by a cup win.

Dundee United (4-4-2) Jarvie; Wilson, Innes, Ritchie, Archibald; Robson, Brebner (McCracken 82), McInnes, Samuel (Dodds, 70); Scotland (Grady 64), McIntyre

Subs: Hirschfeld, Kerr

Booked Robson (55), Scotland (57) Ritchie (77) McInnes (78)

Hibernian (4-4-2) Simon Brown; Whittaker, Caldwell, Murdock, Glass; Shiels (Shields 86), Beuzelin, Rocastle, Murray; Morrow (Fletcher 17) Riordan (Dobbie 82).

Subs: Alistair Brown, Smith

Referee J Rowbotham