Kilmarnock scored their first goal in 571 minutes to end an eight-game losing streak in a deserved Scottish Premiership draw against Dundee United.
Adrian Sporle earned the away side an early lead with a deflected shot.
But Kilmarnock, who dominated proceedings throughout, eventually got their reward as Zech Medley tapped in.
The result earned Tommy Wright his first point as Kilmarnock boss, but his side remain 11th.
Micky Mellon’s Dundee United hold on to seventh, but are now four adrift of St Mirren in the hunt for a top-six place.
Kyle Lafferty was involved throughout this match, the new Kilmarnock forward driving his team on. He had the first chance of note, a brilliant curling effort which failed to dip under the crossbar with Benjamin Siegrest scrambling.
United, though, delivered the sucker punch almost immediately. Ian Harkes stole the ball from Medley in the Kilmarnock half, fed Sporle and his shot looked unlikely to trouble Colin Doyle before taking a deflection off Kirk Broadfoot.
The home side were not swayed as they continued to apply pressure and create a number of chances. Siegrest was forced into a fantastic double save; blocking a Lafferty free-kick before reacting quickly to deny Mitch Pinnock.
In the second half Siegrest was again called into action as he kept out efforts from Greg Kiltie, Pinnock and Medley. However, the latter eventually made the breakthrough on 64 minutes, slamming home the equaliser through a crowded box at the back post.
Wright’s men had all the momentum and thought they had grabbed a quick second, only for Lafferty’s high finish to be ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper.
For Dundee United, they rarely threatened when producing another all too familiar performance with little attacking intent.
Lawrence Shankland cut a frustrated figure throughout with his only real opportunity of note coming at the end of the game where he could have done better when through on goal.
Man of the match – Kyle Lafferty
What did we learn?
Kilmarnock showed improvement under new boss Wright and will be pleased to earn their first point under him. However, they will have an overriding feeling that one point should have been three as they were far better than their opposition. Lafferty was good throughout but they still seem to be searching for a goalscorer.
For Dundee United, this game should have been a good opportunity to keep pushing for a top six place but with St Mirren winning against Ross County and their remaining fixtures appearing significantly harder on paper, that looks increasingly less likely. The away side once again offered up very little despite the attacking talent within their ranks.
What did they say?
Kilmarnock manager Tommy Wright: “It’s a point closer to where we want to be. To be on the front foot against a side pushing for the top six shows how good we can be. Out of the four games we’ve had four really good performances. But we’ve only got one point so there’s still a lot of work to do.”
“The players gave everything and I think they showed a lot of character in the game when you consider they go one nil down to come back and get back in the game and we ultimately should have went on to win it.”
Dundee United manager Micky Mellon: “Before we came here we knew it would be a tough game but to score the first goal and get into half-time you’d expect to be able to dig that out. We know that there are areas that we need to get better at, we invited the pressure onto ourselves. But then on the flip side of that we’ve probably had the better chances in the game to win it.”
What’s next?
Kilmarnock travel to Dingwall for a huge relegation battle against Ross County on Saturday (15:00 GMT), while Dundee Utd welcome Celtic to Tannadice on Sunday (12:00).
Player of the match
SmithLiam Smith
Kilmarnock
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Squad number28Player nameLafferty
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Squad number24Player nameMedley
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Squad number22Player nameMillen
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Squad number16Player nameDoyle
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Squad number10Player nameKiltie
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Squad number6Player namePower
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Squad number29Player nameBurke
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Squad number8Player nameDicker
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Squad number3Player nameHaunstrup
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Squad number11Player nameKabamba
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Squad number5Player nameBroadfoot
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Squad number19Player namePinnock
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Squad number7Player nameMcKenzie
Dundee United
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Squad number2Player nameSmith
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Squad number1Player nameSiegrist
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Squad number24Player nameShankland
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Squad number3Player nameSpörle
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Squad number66Player nameFuchs
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Squad number23Player nameHarkes
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Squad number18Player nameButcher
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Squad number12Player nameEdwards
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Squad number6Player nameReynolds
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Squad number9Player nameMcNulty
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Squad number27Player nameAppéré
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Squad number5Player nameConnolly
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Squad number10Player nameClark
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Squad number17Player nameRobson
Line-ups
Kilmarnock
Formation 4-4-2
- 16Doyle
- 22Millen
- 5Broadfoot
- 24Medley
- 3Haunstrup
- 7McKenzieSubstituted forBurkeat 61′minutes
- 6Power
- 8Dicker
- 19PinnockSubstituted forKabambaat 61′minutes
- 10KiltieBooked at 38mins
- 28Lafferty
Substitutes
- 2McGowan
- 9Oakley
- 11Kabamba
- 14Rossi
- 18Waters
- 21Mulumbu
- 23Rogers
- 27Tshibola
- 29Burke
Dundee Utd
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Siegrist
- 2SmithBooked at 67mins
- 12Edwards
- 6Reynolds
- 17Robson
- 23HarkesBooked at 86mins
- 66FuchsBooked at 45minsSubstituted forConnollyat 55′minutesBooked at 71mins
- 18Butcher
- 3SpörleSubstituted forAppéréat 28′minutesSubstituted forClarkat 83′minutes
- 9McNulty
- 24Shankland
Substitutes
- 5Connolly
- 10Clark
- 14Hoti
- 15Chalmers
- 19Mehmet
- 20Bolton
- 27Appéré
- 30Neilson
- 43Smith
Live Text
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Match ends, Kilmarnock 1, Dundee United 1.
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Second Half ends, Kilmarnock 1, Dundee United 1.
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Attempt missed. Calum Butcher (Dundee United) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
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Attempt saved. Lawrence Shankland (Dundee United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
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Corner, Dundee United. Conceded by Brandon Haunstrup.
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Attempt saved. Mark Reynolds (Dundee United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jamie Robson with a cross.
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Foul by Alan Power (Kilmarnock).
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Nicky Clark (Dundee United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Ian Harkes (Dundee United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Kyle Lafferty (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Ian Harkes (Dundee United).
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Attempt missed. Lawrence Shankland (Dundee United) right footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the left. Assisted by Jamie Robson.
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Substitution, Dundee United. Nicky Clark replaces Louis Appéré.
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Foul by Nicke Kabamba (Kilmarnock).
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Ryan Edwards (Dundee United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Corner, Kilmarnock. Conceded by Mark Reynolds.
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Attempt saved. Lawrence Shankland (Dundee United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Liam Smith.
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Corner, Kilmarnock. Conceded by Jamie Robson.
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Alan Power (Kilmarnock) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Lawrence Shankland (Dundee United).