IT WILL be another two months before St Mirren finally take leave of Love Street but that move surely cannot come quickly enough.

This latest defeat, which plunges them back to the foot of the SPL table, saw them struggle to take any home comforts from a match in which they were the architects of their own destruction. Jon Daly grabbed the two goals for United, who have now lost only once in their last 13 outings, but it was the problems facing home manager Gus MacPherson which provided the talking points.

His side have scored only three times in eight home league matches and their finishing yesterday was woeful.

Contrary to expectations, the home side made all the early running. Unfortunately, several promising moves were undone by an inability to test the opposition goalkeeper, a Paisley pattern which has remained unchanged since they returned to the top flight three seasons back.

Dennis Wyness, still searching for his first goal for St Mirren, came close when he deflected a cross-shot from Andy Dorman on to the roof of the net. Dorman himself should have done better in the 13th minute when Craig Dargo nodded a Stephen McGinn cross into his path but the midfielder, yet to score in the SPL this season, spooned the ball over from 18 yards.

Dorman squandered an even better opening in the 35th minute when Wyness sent him through on Lukasz Zaluska. A clinical finish was required but Dorman's dithering allowed Michael Kovacevic to slide in and turn the ball behind for a corner.

Two minutes later United moved ahead with a powerful header from Daly. The striker met a Willo Flood cross and although Mark Howard got a hand to the ball he couldn't keep it out. Saints were jeered off at the interval but that was nothing to the crescendo of boos which greeted an appalling miss from Wyness in the 51st minute.

Franco Miranda supplied Dargo on the left flank and he picked out his strike partner with a cutback. Standing on the penalty spot and under no pressure, Wyness suffered the football version of stage fright, snatching at the chance and ballooning the ball yards over.

It was painful to watch, and no-one in the top flight has scored fewer goals than Saints.

Dorman was sent clear again on the hour but he also fluffed his lines and this time Garry Kenneth provided the goal-saving challenge. Both Dorman and Wyness were replaced but the suffering continued.

Flood went close with a diving header from Craig Conway's cross and Scott Robertson was inches away after dinking the ball over Howard at the end of a surging run and the goalkeeper did well to beat away a snapshot from Daly.

At the other end Billy Mehmet fired over from six yards and Jim Hamilton was cautioned for going down as if shot after brushing against Zaluska

Stephen McGinn came as close as the home side would come, smacking the crossbar with an angled drive, but Daly sealed the outcome two minutes from time, confidently beating Howard low to his right from the penalty spot after Conway had been upended by Jack Ross.