Dundee United 1-2 St Mirren: Henderson & Brophy goals earn win

St Mirren breathed "a huge sigh of relief" after ending a torrid run of 11 games without a win with an impressive 2-1 Scottish Premiership victory at Dundee United, says boss Jim Goodwin.

United, who introduced new signing Tony Watt from the bench, hit back through an Alan Power own goal and pushed hard for a leveller, but ultimately slipped to a sixth defeat on the bounce.

Despite the loss, Thomas Courts' side stay seventh, while St Mirren are now six points above the relegation play-off places in ninth.

"It's been a long time coming. We've forgotten what it feels like to celebrate a win in there," said Goodwin. "When the final whistle goes it was just a huge sigh of relief from everybody within the group."

• Reaction & as it happened

If you had to pick two sides desperate for the winter break, Dundee United and St Mirren would have been up there.

Ravaged by illness and injury, the three-week stoppage provided much needed respite for the two sides as both Courts and Jim Goodwin headed into this one with squads much closer to a full compliment.

Courts made six changes from the side that played on Boxing Day, a defeat against Hibs that seems like centuries ago now. Striker Marc McNulty was in for his first appearance since September and marquee signing Watt was on the bench. More on him later.

It was St Mirren who came flying out the traps and it took them 15 minutes to take the lead.

A long ball forward from Jak Alnwick started a fine move, which ended with the ball flying past Benji Siegrist into the net. Henderson was the scorer - his first goal for the club in only his ninth start - sending an absolute screamer into the top corner.

They could have had a second, had it not been for the flag of the assistant referee. Greg Kiltie, who set up the first goal, gathered a loose ball in the box and fired low beyond Siegrist.

However, Eamonn Brophy had to jump out of the way of the strike and was adjudged to be offside and obstructing the keeper. A tight call.

The second-half was a much more even contest, although it was St Mirren who struck first. Marcus Fraser played a killer ball through to Kiltie, whose cross-cum-shot to the back post was tapped home by Brophy. He had been due to start on the bench, but was called upon after an injury to Kristian Dennis in the warm up.

Not long after that, Watt entered the fray and brought United the creativity they were looking for. It was his pass that slid in substitute Kieran Freeman on the right and Alan Power turned the youngster's cut back into his own net.

That set up a tense finale as United pressed for an equaliser, but Alnwick stood tall to deny Charlie Mulgrew and Freeman, with McNulty also going close for the hosts.

It would not be enough, however, as United continue their awful run of form into the new year.

Man of the Match - Greg Kiltie

What did we learn?

United looked a much, much better side following Watt's introduction - quite a statement given he only trained with his team-mates for the first time on Monday. Before he came on, they lacked a creative outlet, as well as a real goal threat, and it was no surprise that their goal came through the vision of the talismanic striker.

In fact, Courts might be cursing himself for playing it safe and keeping the striker on the bench, instead of risking him from the start. Watt will need to bed in quickly if United are to stop this freefall. Only St Johnstone have scored fewer goals.

For St Mirren, it was a win that had been a long time coming. Eleven games, to be exact. Six matches in that winless drought finished in draws, but they finally showed the steel needed to secure all three points.

Goodwin will be hoping Kiltie can continue to turn in performances of this standard. It's been stop-start for the attacker since signing from Kilmarnock in the summer but he looked like a new player, adding pace and flair to the attack.

What they said

Dundee United manager Thomas Courts: "The first 45 minutes is as poor as we've been for a long time. We looked nervous, we were very edgy. But only some good goalkeeping and maybe poor finishing on our part prevented us from winning.

"I think you can see Tony Watt is going to be a big signing for us and there was a lot of chemistry on the pitch in the last 25 minutes.

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin: "United didn't cause us any trouble at all and we looked very dangerous on the break. We should have had more than the goal advantage at half-time.

"I have to give great credit to the players. It wasn't by any means a tactical masterclass from the manager, that was all about the players in the second 45 just digging deep."

What's next

United take a much-needed break from league action with a trip to Rugby Park on Saturday, where they are hosted by Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup (15:00 GMT).

St Mirren also travel to that part of the world as they take on Ayr United at Somerset Park at the same time.