Dundee United's Paul McMullan forced a good save from Vaclav Hladky in the first half

St Mirren and Dundee United scrapped out an absorbing goalless draw in the first leg of their Scottish Premiership play-off final at Tannadice.

With the hosts longing to end their three-year exile in the Championship, and St Mirren equally desperate to preserve their top-flight status for a second season, it was a tense, error-strewn contest.

Paul McMullan and Pavol Safranko had the best chances for the hosts, and the two Kyles - McAllister and Magennis - went closest for the Premiership side.

Neither side could edge ahead, though, meaning the fate of both is distilled down to what will be a nerve-shredding second leg in Paisley on Sunday.

Tension the only winner on scrappy night

St Mirren were unbeaten in their previous six, with manager Oran Kearney insisting his side were far better than when the two met in the Scottish Cup last 16. And, with only five of that team that lost 2-1 on show here, they performed with far superior resolve and organisation than in February.

The Paisley outfit's threat mainly came from set plays, even if it was not necessarily their own men causing consternation. One Kyle McAllister free-kick was so tempting that United defender Mark Reynolds could not resist snapping a header straight at his startled goalkeeper, Benjamin Siegrist.

McAllister's guile was a flickering presence. The on-loan Derby County winger was deployed on the right of the St Mirren attack, but chopped inside with menace. On one such occasion, he buffeted Jamie Robson aside and unleashed a fizzing shot that Siegrist clawed away from his top right-hand corner.

The Swiss goalkeeper did even better a minute after the break to thrust a hand at Kyle Magennis' close-range back-post effort in a portent of what was to be a second-half that the Premiership side edged.

United had enjoyed the better of the first but struggled to cleave clear openings. For all that they rattled three past Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the second leg of the semi-final, Robbie Neilson's side have founds goals a relatively rare commodity for large chunks of the campaign and so it was again here.

Ian Harkes had an early effort deflected wide after McMullan smuggled him into space with a cute pass, then McMullan himself scorched past his man in pursuit of a Nicky Clark lash forward but was denied by Vaclav Hladky.

McMullan, so influential in the semi-final, remained central to anything good about United's work. When not panicking defenders by boring down on them with the ball at feet, he linked adroitly with Clark, and skidded across a couple of teasing deliveries that deserved more appreciation.

United lost at this stage to Hamilton Academical two years ago, and faltered in the semi-finals against Livingston last term, but the lingering memories of those disappointments did not dull the enthusiasm inside a Tannadice heaving with a little over 11,000 fans.

The noise cranked up a little more when, after consecutive corners, Ryan Flynn was forced to scramble away a goal-bound Peter Pawlett effort. Then, as stoppage time loomed, Safranko got a toe on to Robson's low cross, but his jabbed effort was thwarted by an alert Hladky and the ball was scrambled clear.

And with that, it was done, leaving tension as the only winner on the night.

Over 11,000 were inside Tannadice for the tense first leg

A toss of a coin & lack of real sniffers - analysis

BBC Scotland's Brian McLauchlin at Tannadice

The tension on the Tannadice pitch was evident from the first whistle with neither side able to get a grip on the game with passes going astray and chances at a premium.

The home crowd were doing their best to settle their team and arguably had the better possession but never really threatened the Saints goal.

But while St Mirren will be happy to head into Sunday's second leg with the tie all square they will also have the expectation from the home crowd that they will now be favourites to retain their place in the Premiership, however, United will still fancy their chances.

Once again there will be nerves and chances of a free-flowing game are slim but someone will become a hero and with that will come adulation. For the losers it's a season in the Championship and a long, hard summer before the task of gaining promotion lies ahead once again.