Dundee United made it four Championship wins in a row with an impressive success against Queen of the South at Palmerston.
Despite losing fullback Paul Dixon and ‘keeper Cammy Bell to injury by the start of the second half, the Tangerines were on top for most of the 90 minutes and well worth the points.
After five games without a win the home team looked nervy as the proceedings got underway and United almost capitalised on that. A move down the right ended with Scott Fraser cutting inside and sending a low 18-yard effort just wide.
United were having the better of things and it was no big shock when they took a 14th minute lead.
For the second week running former Queens man Mark Durnan was the hero, following up his winner against Falkirk to head the opener from a Fraser corner.
The Tangerines were well on top and made the most of their superiority by easing two up in the 22nd minute when a Paul Dixon cross was superbly headed home by Tony Andreu.
There was a blow just before the break when Dixon went down with what looked a bad injury and had to be stretchered off. He was replaced by teenager Jamie Robson.
And deep in first-half injury time the tangerine pain increased when a Stephen Dobbie free kick was headed home by Grant Anderson.
United were forced to make a change for the second half when Luis Zwick took over in goal from skipper Cammy Bell, who apparently suffered an injury early in the first period.
In the 57th minute the two-goal lead was restored via a fantastic 22-yard effort from Fraser and that was a fair reflection of United’s dominance since the break.
It was almost four when Simon Murray rattled the post with a fierce angled drive. Then only a fine stop from Lee Robinson in the home goal denied Fraser a second.
The fourth did come when Andreu played in Murray and he lifted the ball over the advancing goalie and into the back of the net.
In the dying minutes there was a scuffle involving most of the players on the pitch after a Jamie Hamill challenge on Tope Obadeyi, but for United this was a day when quality, not fight, shone through.
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