If you can’t be grateful for the minutes, be grateful for the moment. It would be cynical to declare Stevie Crawford’s decisive strike the only incident worth recalling at East End Park yesterday, but it was the one example of true quality in an encounter that otherwise all too often verged on the untidy, if not uninspiring. Two descriptions that could not be applied to Crawford’s glorious 42nd minute counter. The striker’s control, balance and awareness were all supreme as he received a pass with his back to goal, spun round and dragged the ball from one foot to the other as he did so, before sending a thumping drive in at Alan Combe’s near post.

It was worthy of a Dunfermline side who have pluck and desire for success, to say nothing of eight points from five matches and only four goals. The numbers add up to a more than creditable opening sequence for a team finding their way in the Premier League after a two-year absence. They have found their way as far as a fourth place in the table, indeed. Dundee United, on the other hand, appear to have all the life of a mortuary. They are creatively-challenged and Dunfermline were well worth the victory. Granted, the Tannadice side remain in a state of flux after the resignation of Paul Sturrock a fortnight ago, but the expected bounce-back from a change of manager hasn’t materialised. To hear United interim boss Alex Smith talk of two evenly matched teams and express pleasure over his men’s willingness to "bite and scratch" in their bid to force a late equaliser was akin to admiring the neatness of a beheaded man’s side-parting. This latest reverse leaves United firmly anchored to the foot of the SPL with one point for the season. They are lucky to have even that as it was the product of a fluky equaliser against Motherwell. The United punters who travelled to Fife made their feelings known with strangulated cries of "McLean must go".

Their pronouncation of McLean was as in the toothpaste for some bizarre reason - perhaps because their team has no bite. "We’ve got money behind us to go and by players if necessary," Smith offered as an upbeat note. But with United For Change’s latest line of attack aimed at wresting control of the club from chairman Jim McLean, the commissioning of a feasibility study showing that up to £5m could be raised by allowing supporters to purchase 12,000 unissued shares, the disgruntled Tannadice fans may be left asking why the club does not have more money. But for the last 15 minutes at East End Park yesterday, when they forced a series of corners by launching the ball in to the home side’s box, United were bankrupt of ideas against Jimmy Calderwood’s men. The Dunfermline boss’s desire for enterprise from his team was evident from a line-up in which Junior Mendes was asked to offer support from the left flank for the front pairing of Stevie Crawford and Davie Moss. That the home side only sporadically shuttled the ball around with the aim of carving openings was more the consequence of a clumsiness and, at times, lack of wherewithal that must have confirmed to Calderwood that the brain is too rarely engaged in the Scottish game. Dunfermline look like a team that are trying to do the right things but, as yet, are probably more inclined to find success on the training field rather than in games.

The coaching tips are not coming naturally, but at least there was a discernible, and potentially attractive, pattern to their play. The most you could venture about United on the basis of yesterday was that Steven McConalogue is a genuine prospect. Any threat United carried - and it wasn’t much - came from the 19-year-old striker who appeared to play at a different pace from his team-mates in the early stages. While they plodded, he scooted around like the young thing that he is, his enthusiasm sadly not infectious. The spring in McConologue’s step was probably down to his midweek hat-trick against Alloa in the CIS Cup, but perhaps the youngster also felt he owed it to his strike partner, Alphunse Tchami, to give him a sprint-free introduction to the Scottish game. The Cameroon forward, whom we are told has enjoyed a successful spell in Argentina, debuted for United at East End Park after being on trial at Tannadice at the same time as former Rangers full-back Stephen Wright, also in the visitors’ line-up in Fife. Without being overly harsh on the imposing Tchami, he did not make it difficult for marker Scott Thomson to shackle him and appeared to be one of those players whose idea of using his bulk was to give away cheap fouls. Maybe he was trying to blend in with his new team-mates. In the 85th minute he was cautioned for a tussle with the Dunfermline centre-back.

But United boss Smith disagreed about the treatment of his new man and saw in in him things few others did. "I thought he was unlucky to be booked," the Tannadice manager said. "He took as much as he gave out." Not in a playing sense, though Smith claimed the striker would be a good asset. "He really needs games and fitness. He is from a different culture and has a different mentality but he puts himself about well." Calderwood’s summing up was easier to fathom. He thought midfielder Barry Nicholson was "the best man" and admitted to delight over histeam now having a seven-point cushion over United. This was revealing in that it demonstrates that finishing anything but last remains Calderwood’s priority. On that basis, he must have been thrilled to witness United’s hamstrung efforts.

Dundee United: Combe 7, Wright 6, Aljofree 6, De Vos 7, Buchan 8, Partridge 6, Hannah 7, Davidson 7, Tchami 7, Paterson 6, McConalogue 8 Substitutes: Thompson (68) Easton (75) Heaney (65) McCracken, Onstad.