Lorient return to winning ways

Jon Daly earned Dundee United a 3-3 draw in their Scottish Premier League clash with Kilmarnock as the Taysiders mounted a second-half fightback.

United looked out of things after Cillian Sheridan fired Killie into a 2-0 first-half lead and Paul Heffernan (53) had made it 3-1 after Gary Mackay-Steven (48) reduced the deficit.

But captain Daly struck in the 56th minute before Sheridan crucially had what would have been his hat-trick goal ruled out for offside in the 77th minute.

Daly made the most of that reprieve when he stooped to head home from Barry Douglas' perfect cross to send the home fans away happy and with their money's worth from a thrilling encounter.

The visitors began the brightest and came close early on when Borja Perez tried his luck from 30 yards with a shot which Radoslaw Cierzniak was relieved to see clear his crossbar.

Killie took the lead after eight minutes when Sean Dillon fouled Sheridan 30 yards from goal and the striker curled an inch-perfect free-kick beyond Cierzniak and into the top corner.

Sheridan doubled his tally on the half-hour mark when Gary Harkins produced a deftly weighted pass which split the United defence, allowing Sheridan to run in behind and dink a left-footed finish beyond Cierzniak and into the opposite corner of the net.

Within minutes of the restart Mackay-Steven sparked a comeback with an unstoppable strike from 30 yards, but Heffernan struck minutes later when Cierzniak failed to deal with a ball into the box and Heffernan looped home a 16-yard header.

Daly then headed past Killie goalkeeper Cameron Bell from Douglas' 56th-minute cross to make it 3-2, before Sheridan was denied a hat-trick when he was ruled offside.

And United made the most of that decision in injury time when Daly produced a typically brave diving header from another Douglas cross to round off a courageous fightback.

Player-boss Davids saw red with five minutes left after two bookings in quick succession, the second for a foul on Stanley's new player-coach James Beattie.

Stanley went ahead seven minutes after half-time when Romuald Boco marked his 100th appearance for the club with his sixth goal of the season.

Bees goalkeeper Graham Stack blocked his initial shot but Boco made no mistake with his second attempt.

They could have doubled their lead on the hour but James Gray headed over.

Instead Barnet were awarded a penalty with 20 minutes to go and although Mark Byrne's first effort was saved by Ian Dunbavin, the referee ordered a retake after deeming the goalkeeper had moved off his line too early and the Bees midfielder made no mistake with his second attempt.

Gregory Bourillon opened the scoring after 24 minutes and Benjamin Corgnet put the result beyond doubt with a second goal midway through the second half.

The result lifted Christian Gourcuff's side, who headed into the match having not won in their previous seven league games and having leaked 19 goals during that period, up to 10th in the standings - two points behind seventh-placed LOSC.

The game could hardly have got off to a better start for the hosts, who dominated the early exchanges and duly took a deserved lead.

Yann Jouffre delivered the free-kick from the left and Bourillon rose higher than Salomon Kalou to head into the top corner.

It could have been 2-0 12 minutes later when Jouffre set up Corgnet for a volley which was superbly kept out by Lille goalkeeper Mickael Landreau.

Rudi Garcia's side, who could have moved level on points with leaders Paris St Germain and Marseille with victory, mustered their first attack of note seven minutes before half-time. But Lorient goalkeeper Fabien Audard kept out Kalou's curling effort after the former Chelsea man had been set up by Mathieu Debuchy.

Lorient were soon back on the front foot, though, and went within a whisker of doubling their lead again when Kevin Monnet-Paquet's effort from a tight angle skimmed the post on its way wide.

The game continued in the same vein after the interval, Jeremie Aliadiere getting the better of Marko Basa only to fire his left-footed shot inches over the bar.

Audard had to be alert soon after to deflect a Dimitri Payet blast away to safety, and that proved crucial in the 69th minute when Lorient put daylight between themselves and their opponents with a second goal.

Aliadiere led the counter-attack before sending the ball out to the right for Corgnet, who despatched a low drive past Landreau.

The scoreline could have been even more emphatic 13 minutes from time when Corgnet's ball found Monnet-Paquet unmarked in the box, but he lashed just wide.