St Johnstone secured bragging rights in the Tayside derby with a dominant performance over a lacklustre Dundee United side.
There was a surprise selection by United boss Jackie McNamara who dropped keeper Rado Cierzniak for his Polish compatriot Michal Szromnik.
The 21-year-old was soon called into action in the ninth minute when he made a great acrobatic save to parry away a David Wotherspoon 20-yard strike.
However, Szromnik was helpless just moments later when a Michael O’Halloran strike from the angle of the Tangerines’ penalty box swerved and dipped in front of the keeper who could not prevent the shot from bulging the net.
O’Halloran doubled Saints advantage in the 44th minute when he gleefully swept home a superb cross from the right by his skipper Dave Mackay.
The Tangerines finally gave Saints keeper Alan Mannus something to worry about in the 68th minute when Nadir Ciftci embarked on a powerful run before hitting a fierce shot which the stopper did well to save.
However, that was really that from the home side in an attacking sense and Saints comfortably saw out the game to the delight of the travelling fans.
See Monday’s Courier for full report, reaction and analysis.