Positive signs

Went to watch United at Tynecastle in the opening Betfred Cup game against Hearts. Up against a team from the league above I wasn't hopeful but United performed surprisingly well - took the lead with an early goal from the new striker and despite conceding an equaliser before half time after a soft free kick wasn't cleared well enough and/or the Hearts player on the edge of the box wasn't closed down quickly enough, they might have won it near the end when a Hearts defender resorted to diving on the ball to prevent a clear goal scoring chance. His cynicism paid off (and therefore worth getting sent off) as the free kick outside the box came to nothing and the game went to penalties (pictured) which Hearts won by scoring all five. United only missed one, which was a huge improvement on the play-off game at the end of last season. Still, that's a point, and IF they can win against the other three teams there is still every chance of going through as a best-placed runner up. Weather was tipping it down and thankful of the modern ground, as opposed to the old Tynecastle with the uncovered away end when I would have got soaked.