ON A DAY when the scoreline read weather one, football nil, two late goals inside the final few minutes gave Dundee United a victory they thoroughly deserved.

The game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw until substitute Roy O'Donovan gathered the ball far out on the right wing in the 84th minute. He cut inside and as the St Mirren defence and the Tannadice crowd anticipated a low cross to his waiting strikers, the Irishman went for an outrageous chip shot which took a deflection over Mark Howard to nestle in the far corner of the net.

It was a courageous if a trifle fortunate goal, but United were not finished yet. With two minutes left, as St Mirren rampaged forward in search of an equaliser, they lost possession in midfield and Craig Conway raced 40 yards upfield. He had a striker to the left of him, a striker to the right of him, but the midfielder strode into the valley in the visitors' defence and lashed a thunderous shot from the edge of the box which not even a terrific diving effort by Howard could reach.

It was a peach of a goal, and victory was just reward for United's efforts. They were the better team overall, though St Mirren's organisation was top notch and no-one could have complained if they had taken a point.

This was billed as a tribute match for the late Eddie Thompson, and most of the 11,378 people in the crowd were there to mark his passing.

"The whole day just mattered so much," said United manager Craig Levein. "I would have felt that, personally, I would have let the chairman down if we hadn't won. It's stupid, I know, but that's how I felt.

"The fans were great all day. They were here to pay their respects to the chairman. It wouldn't have quite sat right if we hadn't given them the victory. They deserved it as they have had a difficult week as well."

Passionate fan that he was, Thompson would not have enjoyed much of the first-half spectacle, or more correctly, the lack of it.

Let us be generous and say that the windy conditions made silky football impossible, but the standard should nevertheless have risen above the level of mediocre which was the condition of a lot of the first half play.

Yet after the opening minutes, United fans in particular were purring with anticipation of a high-scoring encounter to come. From the kick-off, the men in tangerine poured into attack, threatening to sweep St Mirren aside with a series of blistering attacks which saw them win seven corners in the first seven minutes.

Inside 60 seconds, Francisco Sandanza had sand-danced his way down the left wing to send in a low cross which Jon Daly missed by inches. It would have been a fine goal and would surely have altered the complexion of the match.

Sadly for the home fans and the neutrals, they could convert none of the corner kicks into goals, though Conway came very close when he latched on to a clearance that came back out to him from his own corner and sent in a ferocious curling shot which Howard did well to tip over from high in the postage stamp corner.

Darren Dods was unlucky to see his snap shot from one of the corners bounce straight at the diving Howard, while the big United defender should have done better with a couple of headed chances which also followed corners, Howard again proving safe as houses.

That United did not succeed in breaching Howard's goal in the first half was due to St Mirren giving themselves a shake – "I thought we defended well and I felt comfortable," said manager Gus McPherson who, to his credit, refused to blame the emotions of the occasion for his side's defeat.

Referee Brian Winter had a fine game and kept control on a couple of occasions when poor tackling seemed likely to inspire retaliation – Willo Flood's scything down of Franco Miranda in the 14th minute earned him a yellow card, but Winter's warnings ensured the incident ended there. Billy Mehmet and Dennis Wyness joined Flood in the book later, but this was not a dirty match. St Mirren, however, should have gone ahead after 23 minutes when Hugh Murray sent in a low shot that was parried by Lukasz Zaluska.

The second half was much better and the United fans got behind their team as St Mirren came more into the play, Garry Brady and Miranda both failing with chances, and Zaluska foiling Mehmet. At the other end, Dods saw his looping header come off the top of the bar.

United manager Craig Levein changed things after 65 minutes, sending on O'Donovan and Danny Swanson for Flood and Daly, though Levein was also forced to make another change at the same time, Dods coming off with a bad head cut, replaced by Garry Kenneth.

Scott Robertson almost snatched the lead when his shot from a cleared corner sliced off his boot and swerved only just wide of the post. Seconds later, Morgaro Gomis had to react instantly to clear a goalbound Hugh Murray shot off the line, and in the ensuing scramble, Zaluska just managed to keep the ball out of his goal. Gomis himself had a go at the other end, but his shot was well held by Howard.

In the 82nd minute, a Paul Dixon free kick was met deep in the penalty box by the towering Lee Wilkie, whose header went inches past. United's greater appetite for attack was then rewarded by the two goals. In injury time, St Mirren substitute Stephen McGinn let fly from nearly 30 yards only to see Zaluska save magnificently, leaping high to his right to tip the ball over.

A final chorus of "There's Only One Eddie Thompson" was all that remained to be sung. It truly was Eddie Thompson's and Dundee United's day.