A 30th-minute goal by Ally Mitchell was enough to give Kilmarnock a close-fought victory over Dundee United at Rugby Park and their third league win of the season. For toiling United, still looking for their first league win of the term, it was the same old story. They matched the home side in everything except taking their chances, and Killie took the one that mattered. Mitchell said afterwards: 'I missed a chance like that against St Johnstone two weeks ago. I thought Paul Wright was going to shoot but instead he picked me out with a great pass and I was delighted to put it away.'

The Tannadice side showed five changes to the side that squeezed through on penalties against Airdrie in the CIS Cup on Tuesday, with captain Jason de Vos back, French midfielder Stephane Leoni making his debut and Cameroon striker Mvondo Atangana on the bench. Kilmarnock, victorious on midweek cup duty at Perth, were unchanged. The game was slow to ignite in the first 15 minutes, with neither side able to make a penetrating thrust, but where it did come to life it provided an entertaining afternoon. What transpired was that United created three first-half chances, all of which fell to Steven Thompson and all missed. Kilmarnock also carved out three in that period, scored one, which eventually proved the winner and went for their half-time break the happier side. Joachim Fernandez was an impressive playmaker in left midfield for the visitors.

He helped created United's first opening in 24 minutes. His swinging cross from the left was headed back across goal by de Vos but Thompson inexplicably drove his header wide from eight yards with Killie goalkeeper Gordon Marshall looking decidedly static on his line. When, next minute, Hasney Aljofree brought down Kilmarnock striker Paul Wright 22 yards from goal, Wright's low drive from Andy McLaren's short free-kick beat the wall but Alan Combe dived to his right to make his first save of the match. McLaren, Kilmarnock's talented winger, then gave Ally McCoist the chance to put the home side ahead when he sprinted away from Leoni to send over an inviting cross. McCoist was stationed at the back post but couldn't get sufficient power in his downward header to beat Combe. The opening goal, though, was delayed only a minute to the half hour, and it was a bad one to lose. Frederic Dindeleux joined the home attack to provide White with a pass and the striker spotted that de Vos had left a space for Mitchell to run into. This he did to beat Combe with a right-foot shot from 14 yards. The persistent Fernandez, who had just been booked for a free-kick on Gary Holt, quickly presented Thompson with another chance but this time the unfortunate striker's effort from just inside the box hit the junction of post and crossbar and flew wide.

McCoist's square-pass soon after saw Garry Hay running on to the ball to drive in a shot that stung Combe's fingers and the final act of the half found Thompson stretching for a cross from Neil Heaney, who had replaced the injured Jim Paterson and poked the ball wide. After the first quarter of the second half, both sides made changes, United replacing Cameroon striker Alphonse Tchalmi with his fellow countryman Atangana. Killie's response was to take off Holt in favour of Peter Canero and later replaced Wright and McCoist with Christophe Cocard and Ian Durrant. Kilmarnock's lead was too slim to be comfortable and a short back-pass from Mitchell almost let in substitute Atangana in 68 minutes, Marshall racing from his line to block his shot. At the other end on 72 minutes, Canero's cut back from the right saw Cocard drive a shot against the post from six yards.

The last - and one of the best - chances of the match again fell to United when Atangana had a clear opening in front of goal 14 minutes from the end. But the ball ballooned of his head and went a couple of yards over the bar from Heaney's cross, an eloquent comment on United's day. United manager Alex Smith said: 'We gave as good as we got and we gave them a goal for nothing. But we will turn things around.'

Dundee United: Combe (7), Leoni (6), De Vos (5), Wright (8), Aljofree (6), Buchan (6), Easton (6), Fernandez (6) (Venetis 85min 5), Paterson (5) (Heaney 42min 6), Thomson (7), Tchami (7) (Atangana 57min 7).

Post Match reaction: Alex Smith cursed his luck on Saturday night as yet another defensive blunder consigned Dundee United to their fifth SPL defeat of the season, leaving them rooted to the foot of the table. A combination of a slack clearance and poor marking allowed Ally Mitchell to grab the game's only goal in 30 minutes, but Smith believes United are just one win away from settling the ship.

The Tannadice boss said: "We gave the game away. We seem to make a mistake in every match and if we keep doing this we will have problems. "At that stage Killie had barely had a chance while he had had a few, including a Steven Thompson effort which hit a post. "I feel if we had drawn level we would have gone on to win, so it was disappointing to lose, but we are not about to panic. "I believe we are one victory away from getting things right. However, it's important we don't become detached. "It's not about pretty football right now, it's about trying to get results. Hard work will give us the wins we need which, in turn, will give us the confidence we need."