It wasn’t bonnie from Dundee United on Saturday and scorer Tope Obadeyi even went as far as to describe the performance as possibly the worst of the season.
But the bottom line for the Tangerines was they emerged from a difficult trip down to Ayr with another three points in the bag.
It extended their unbeaten run to an impressive 12 matches.
The fact 10 of those outings have resulted in victory explains why Ray McKinnon’s men have gone from a team in danger of being cast adrift in the Championship promotion race, to one that now only trails leaders Hibs on goal difference.
That there is no question the ability to win ugly, or at least when games are extremely tight, is one big reason why they’ve emerged as serious contenders.
Of a total of 34 points from 16 games to date, 12 have come from single-goal victories.
Put another way, those wins against Dunfermline, Falkirk, Hibs and now Ayr in games that could have gone either way are the difference between United trailing the leaders by the narrowest of margins and languishing at least eight points off the pace.
Perhaps the best way of emphasising the importance of single-goal successes in the second tier of Scottish football is to take a glance at the records of the recently-promoted clubs.
Three seasons ago, United’s city rivals Dundee’s successful campaign, one they won by the slenderest of margins, included no fewer than six 1-0 wins.
A year later, Hearts’ march back to the big league saw them use that margin on four occasions.
And last term, for all their impressive scoring form in the early part of the season, by the time Rangers completed their league programme, no fewer than seven wins had come via the only goal.
Returning to United and this season, while at least some of those “one-nils” have not been particularly pleasing on the eye, the use of the phrase “winning ugly” perhaps does a disservice to one vital aspect of the team’s play.
Of course fans would love to see more flowing football and plenty of goals — it’s what puts bums on seats.
What should not be overlooked, though, is the quality of the defensive work that’s been put in.
Largely overlooked, as the excellent unbeaten run was extended down at Ayr, is the fact the defence has now kept five clean sheets in a row.
In fact, it’s a quite remarkable 495 minutes since Cammy Bell, or Luis Zwick, has had to bend down and pick the ball out of their own net.
Not since Grant Anderson’s first-half injury-time goal for Queen of the South at Palmerston on November 5 have United fans seen their team concede.
And if ever there was a time to lose a goal it was in that game — it finished with a highly-impressive 4-1 win at one of the most difficult away venues in the Championship.
The perfect record since then is an achievement worth highlighting and, while every team needs a little luck to go on such a run, by far the biggest reason for it has been excellent defending.
At times goalkeeper Bell has made brilliant saves and as a unit the back four have given up very few chances.
Dutchman Frank van der Struijk impressed before being sidelined by injury in the draw at Morton, Mark Durnan has rediscovered the touch that prompted Jackie McNamara to move for him last year and young Jamie Robson has performed admirably at left-back during Paul Dixon’s injury absence.
Few would argue the rock has been centre-half William Edjenguele. If the form the Frenchman has shown since arriving in August continues, he could be the best signing in the country this term.
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