Willo Flood would happily have swapped his own display on Sunday for a Dundee United victory in the CIS Insurance Cup final against Rangers.United agonisingly lost in a penalty shoot-out to Rangers, having twice taken the lead in the game itself, only to be pegged back on each occasion by substitute Kris Boyd.

After the game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, extra-time produced a goal for either side before Rangers prevailed 3-2 on penalties.

Despite Boyd's timely strikes, Flood was clearly man of the match in a pulsating contest, yet the on-loan Cardiff City player modestly insisted it was impossible for him to find a leading performer in a terrific team effort from United.

When asked about being the star man on display at the national stadium, Flood said: "I would rather have had a stinker and the team went on to win the cup, so it is no consolation whatsoever.

"All of the boys were terrific and I don't think you could find a standout performance in the team.

"From one to 11 they were all outstanding."

United took the lead when Noel Hunt bundled in a scrappy first-half effort, but just five minutes from the final whistle in regulation time, a terrible attempted pass back by Mark Kerr to keeper Lukasz Zaluska allowed Boyd to pounce.

The prolific striker was still in the United penalty area having made no effort to get back onside when a Rangers attack broke down and Flood claimed Boyd's lethargy in this instance actually helped the former Kilmarnock player score.

He said: "It was just a mistake from Mark and Boyd was actually being a bit lazy just standing there."

However, United recovered from that set-back and re-took the lead in extra-time thanks to a surge forward started by Flood, when he robbed Barry Ferguson of possession.

Flood proceeded to sweep a terrific pass out to Craig Conway and the ball finally to found its way to Mark de Vries, via Prince Buaben.

The Dutch striker skipped past Kirk Broadfoot and drove a powerful shot past Allan McGregor to send United's support in ecstasy, only for Boyd to nod in a close-range header late on and ensure the game went to penalties.

Flood admitted when de Vries scored, he started to believe United may have been on the cusp of a famous victory.

But the Irishman paid tribute to Boyd for the impact the 24-year-old made when coming off the bench, which included the predatory forward blasting in the winning spot-kick during the dramatic shoot-out.

Flood said: "We had a great move for the second goal and you started to think that maybe we are going to win the cup.

"But then the ball goes back across out six-yard-box and Boyd is a yard out.

"He was not going to miss from there because he is a decent finisher and made a big difference coming on for them."

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