Sam Dalby scored the only goal of the game as Dundee United ended a run of four straight defeats with a 1-0 win over Motherwell at Tannadice.
The on-loan Wrexham striker made the difference in a match containing precious few clear-cut chances.
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The Terrors remain fourth in the Premiership table but it was a disappointing first game in charge of Motherwell for Michael Wimmer, with the Steelmen now having lost six in a row and slipping to ninth spot.
The hosts made three alterations to the starting line-up that was defeated by Celtic at Parkhead last Saturday with Ryan Strain, Will Ferry and Ruari Paton being drafted in for Luca Stephenson, Glenn Middleton and Kai Fotheringham.
Motherwell made four changes to the team that lost against Ross County last week with Dan Casey, John Koutroumbis, Ewan Wilson and Tawanda Maswanhise coming in for Kofi Balmer, Dominic Thompson, Callum Slattery and on-loan United striker Tony Watt, who was unable to play against his parent club.
The first opportunity arrived in the 17th minute when Motherwell’s Tom Sparrow burst down the right wing and played the ball inside to Andy Halliday but the midfielder’s shot flew well wide of home keeper Jack Walton’s goal.
United did finally create a glimmer of a chance when former Motherwell midfielder Allan Campbell delivered a tempting cross from the right towards Will Ferry, with the wing-back controlling the ball on his chest but failing to keep his shot down.
However, the deadlock was finally broken in the 31st minute. Strain whipped a cross in from the right and Dalby rose highest to power a trademark header past Ellery Balcombe and into the back of the net.
The Steelmen looked to hit back quickly and came close when Maswanhise let fly from 30 yards, with the ball fizzing just wide to the relief of Walton.
United had another opportunity just 30 seconds after the restart when Stephenson galloped forward and played in Campbell but his shot was a tame one and easily gathered by Balcombe.
The Terrors had a scare in the 63rd minute when Lennon Miller swung a corner in from the left, with Ross Graham trying to clear only to divert the ball towards his own goal but Walton was alive to the danger.
Walton then had to make a vital diving stop from a Maswanhise 18-yard curler.
Balcombe then came to Motherwell’s rescue, producing an outstanding acrobatic save to keep out another Dalby header to deny the striker his second goal of the afternoon.
Walton was then called into action, making a smart save from a Casey snapshot, but United held on to secure all three points.
What the managers said…
Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: “We would like the performance to be better. We would like to have a bit more control of the possession in the second half. But ultimately, it’s about three points at this stage of the season.
“We’ve been on a bit of a difficult run of games prior to this afternoon, albeit playing against some difficult opposition. Today was about finding a way to win the game by any means possible.
“I thought we were very good in the first half and well worthy of the lead at half-time.
“But the second half became very scrappy, and it was very hard to get any flow in the game – soft free-kicks and it constantly being stopped.
“Motherwell put us under pressure in the dying moments and we stood up to everything really well.
“It’s a massive three points, especially when you look at the other results – St Mirren winning at Ibrox, Hibs beating Celtic.”
Motherwell boss Michael Wimmer: “I thought there were too many thoughts in the minds of the players.
“We were too deep, there was no composure in possession. Dundee United had more possession, so they got more confidence from that.
“We had two small chances on the counter-attack. We spoke about the need to improve at half-time, to have more courage in possession.
“It was better in the second half, we created good chances and in my opinion perhaps we deserved a point.
“We only had two training sessions before the game so we tried to bring little things and little ideas into the team. I saw many positive things in the second half we can work with. Not everything was perfect or good but there were things I could see from the team.
“We were aggressive, we won high balls, we played forward, we played with speed, we had crosses and this is how I want to see football.
“But we also have to be relaxed and calm. It needs time because I’m a new voice, there’s another language and it needs
time to get a picture from me and it’s also important that I get a picture from the guys.”
