Dundee United goalkeeper Jack Walton has hailed the support of the travelling Arabs after making amends for his own mistake by producing a fine penalty save against Ross County on Saturday.
Walton spilled a relatively tame Scott Allardice drive in the first period in Dingwall and, as he sought to collect the rebound, tripped Ronan Hale.
Referee Craig Napier swiftly pointed to the spot, with the subsequent VAR check giving him no reason to go the monitor.
But despite his error, the 996 United fans in attendance chanted Walton’s name incessantly prior to Eamonn Brophy’s spot-kick. And it had the desired effect.
The on-loan Luton Town man made amends in style, plunging low to his right to thwart the former St Mirren and Kilmarnock forward.
“That (singing his name) was amazing,” said Walton. “The fans have been great to me since the day I got here and I always feel I have had their support, so it was good to give them something back by making that save.
“There was nothing I could do (about the mistake) but I was able to do something about the following action, which is the penalty. I had to concentrate and make sure I did my job – and that time, I did.”
Walton: United were lucky to go in level
Walton produced another magnificent low stop to tip an instinctive Hale volley around the post, with the English stopper afforded a busy day at the office.
County posted 12 shots on target, with the majority coming during a first 45 minutes in which United failed to turn up.
“The chances are playing against better opposition, I am going to have to make more saves than I did last season,” continued Walton. “But I feel one of the strengths of my game is shot stopping.
“I’ve got to keep the ball out of the back of the net and keep us in the game when we weather storms.”
He added: “It was very clear that the first half performance wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t the standards we set ourselves. We just never got going and were really lucky to go in level. The second half was much better.”
“Really disappointed”
Indeed, United grabbed the lead through David Babunski and restricted County to limited opportunities after the interval.
However, there would be an agonising sting in the tail when Hale converted an Alex Samuel cross with 95 minutes on the clock – created when Vicko Sevelj, Richard Odada and Declan Gallagher all inexplicably challenged for the same long ball.
Boss Jim Goodwin described the manner of the goal as “unacceptable”.
“We’re really disappointed to throw a clean sheet away so late in the game,” added Walton. “We’ll get onto the training pitch and work hard. We know we are up against better opposition this year and we have to defend better.”
