McGrath scores but he and manager Goodwin face major challenge
Jamie McGrath got on the scoresheet for Dundee Utd but his team still lost out 3-1 to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premeirship at Tannadice yesterday.
The result means that the Tangerines are still rooted to the bottom of the table with the closing stages of the season approaching.
McGrath scored from the penalty spot for United but Aberdeen were far more efficient in front of the posts and won comfortably.
This has been one long season of turbulence for Dundee Utd as they struggled to gain a foothold in the league with a number of managers tried out. Nothing, however, has stopped the slide.
The latest man in the hotseat is Jim Goodwin, from Waterford, who signed McGrath from Dundalk in January 2020 when he was manager of St Mirren.
McGrath thrived under Goodwin's leadership and it was while with the Buddies the young Athboy midfielder was first capped for the Republic of Ireland. His form for St. Mirren, where he scored 17 goals in the 2020-21 season, saw him called up for the Irish senior squad and McGrath made his debut in the 4-1 win over Andorra in June 2021.
However the Athboy man subsequently signed for Wigan Athletic but it didn't work out for him down south and he returned to Scotland to join a struggling Dundee Utd side.
Goodwin also went to Aberdeen but he was sacked in January after a defeat to non-league Darvel in the Scottish Cup and a heavy defeat to Hibs in the league. The team were also struggling to pick up victories.
Now he has got a chance to resurrect his career with Dundee Utd but it will clearly be a massive task to get them off the bottom of the table.
During yesterday's game the Waterford man had coins, a pie and cup of juice thrown at him by travelling Aberdeen supporters.
"Look, I wasn't expecting a warm reception from the Aberdeen fans, " he said. "They were clearly disappointed with how things ended at the club for me but I was disappointed that there were coins and other projectiles bring thrown down on top of us."
McGrath made his first international start in a competitive game for the Republic against Portugal in September 2021 in the 2-1 defeat against Ronaldo & Co in Faro.
He has since gone on to win seven caps and, no doubt, would be hoping to feature in Stephen Kenny's squad for forthcoming games against Latvia and France.
His reunion with Jim Goodwin could be a step in that direction.
One Meath player who enjoyed a good day yesterday was Darragh Lenihan. He was part of the Middlesbrough side who defeated Reading 5-0 in the Championship. Middlesbrough are now third in the table behind Burnley and Sheffield Utd with a real chance of making the jump up into the Premier Leauge.