Dundee United 2 - 0 St Mirren: Eighty-five minutes of frustration and 10 days of visceral emotion cascaded down from the tangerine-tinged Tannadice terraces when Roy O�Donovan finally gave Dundee United the lead on Saturday.

Eighty-five minutes of frustration and 10 days of visceral emotion cascaded down from the tangerine-tinged Tannadice terraces when Roy O'Donovan finally gave Dundee United the lead on Saturday.

In the centre circle, Garry Kenneth stood, fists clenched, staring skywards. "That's Eddie looking down on us, giving us that goal, isn't it," the Dundee-born defender asked rhetorically, in the aftermath of this tear-stained triumph.

The 21-year-old appreciates more that most of his colleagues what Eddie Thompson meant to United. As a supporter of the club from childhood, he was one of six players who carried the chairman's coffin last Wednesday and took to the field for his pre-match warm up wearing a "One Eddie Thompson" t-shirt printed for last season's CIS Insurance Cup final.

It was a gesture that was echoed around Tannadice, with thousands of United fans in an assorted array of tangerine scarfs, shirts and boiler-suits turning the ground into a throbbing amphitheatre at the request of the Thompson family.

"He was a supporter like me and like the 11,000 odd who turned up today," said an emotional Kenneth. "All my family were here and I saw loads of my friends when I was out doing the warm-up but I know many more people who couldn't make it and would have loved to have been here."

Even those who weren't there would have heard the noise that exploded from the stadium when O'Donovan's deflected effort - his first since joining the club on loan from Sunderland - floated into the far corner of goalkeeper Mark Howard's net.

Until that point, United appeared understandably inhibited by the occasion and overwhelmed by the emotion of the past couple of weeks. A frenzied opening, in which they won seven corners in eight minutes, contained four spurned Darren Dods chances and a Craig Conway effort well fielded by the goalkeeper.

After that, though, both the hosts and the supporters were subdued. St Mirren's extra man in midfield allowed them to seize control and create the better opportunities from open play. Indeed, the visitors looked the more likely side for large spells of the second half until O'Donovan's elusive wiggle into the area and fortuitous flipped finish.

However, that release of tension also freed United from their shackles. Conway added a decisive second with a confident run and shot to confirm his side's fifth consecutive win and ascension to fourth place.

The win, though, meant so much more than just three points. The crackle in Craig Levein's voice and moisture around his eyes told as much. The United manager confessed to being drained by the events of the past couple of weeks and admitted he would have felt he would have let Eddie down had the side not won. Instead, the victory offers him an element of closure and was a fitting reward for his dignity and composure.

"The gaffer was emotional after the game in the dressing room and that shows how close he and the chairmen were," said Kenneth. "He's been a tower of strength to the boys, along with Lee Wilkie, they've got the squad together and got us through it. It's been a really difficult week for everybody associated with the club but we knew we had to get the win today and I think this has united us even more."

The 11,378 crowd was an indication of how deeply the death of Thompson has been felt around the club. The attendance was in the region of twice as many as United would expect for a game like this and their support was undoubtedly a contributory factor.

Indeed, one fan, who spent hours waving a flag outside the church during the funeral was invited to lead the teams out. Keith Whelan stood, head bowed, flag raised in the centre circle during the impeccably observed minute's silence. As a communion, it was a powerful exhibition of the relationship between club and support but Kenneth just hopes crowds of that scale continue.

"It was a great turnout and hopefully we can keep getting numbers like that," said the second-half substitute. "It shouldn't take something like this to happen for people to come and support their team. We didn't have a good start to the season but now we've kicked on and hopefully the fans will start coming back.

"We've been on a great run and we're keeping clean sheets now, like we were doing last season, and that's us nearly back to our best. We've just got to push on."

That will continue tomorrow evening when Dunfermline visit in the quarter-finals of the Co-operative Insurance Cup to mark the beginning of a spell containing six games in 18 days for United.

With their early season woes behind them and a semi-final beckoning, Eddie Thompson has left a legacy to be proud of.