Kilmarnock 2 Dundee United 4

Simon Murray hit a late double at Kilmarnock to earn Dundee United one final Premiership victory and spare skipper John Rankin a nightmare farewell.

Rankin twice lost possession as Killie overturned Mark Durnan's early opener inside seven first-half minutes, but Murray scored two brilliantly-taken goals in the final 17 minutes before Harry Souttar made it 4-2 at Rugby Park.

Murray was one of five first-team players to be told his job was safe after United were relegated and he has responded with four goals in three matches to help caretaker manager Gordon Young's team collect seven points.

There was further cause for optimism for new boss Ray McKinnon, who was among the 2,702 crowd, when young substitutes Bradley Smith and Souttar combined for a late fourth.

Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark gave little away to watching Falkirk counterpart Peter Houston as he made seven changes ahead of their play-off final. Former Blackpool winger Alex Henshall and young left-back Greg Taylor were handed their first starts.

But he will still be frustrated with the way his side defended ahead of the first leg at the Falkirk Stadium on Thursday.

United began with intent and took a deserved lead in the 12th minute when Durnan peeled off his man to guide home a free header from Scott Fraser's corner.

United had other early chances with Justin Johnson forcing two stops from Jamie MacDonald on his first start before Coll Donaldson fired over from a better opportunity.

The visitors were dominating possession but they gifted Killie an equaliser in the 27th minute. Goalkeeper Luis Zwick made a feeble attempt to palm away Craig Slater's long-range strike and Rankin's headed back-pass was intercepted by Kallum Higginbotham, who forced the ball home.

Higginbotham then dispossessed Rankin as the midfielder tried to bring down Donaldson's pass and the goalscorer sent Tope Obadeyi away to finish in style.

Murray fluffed a chance early in the second half before Higginbotham missed a good opportunity to put the game out of sight.

Former Blackpool winger Henshall then hit the inside of the post after a pacey run before Matthew Smith, Murray and Fraser all threatened for the visitors.

Adam Frizzell had a good chance saved for the hosts before United got back in the game.

Murray collected Fraser's forward pass and left Rory McKenzie and Ashcroft on the ground before finding the top corner from 12 yards.

His second in the 82nd minute was even better as he cut inside from the left and fired a powerful strike that swerved into the far bottom corner.

And United added to their lead with four minutes left when Bradley Smith hooked the ball back in the goalmouth after a corner for Souttar to head home and spark a rendition of 'You're going down with United' from the visiting fans.