St Johnstone boosted their prospects of European football by dispatching bogey team Dunfermline.
The relegation-haunted Pars made for Perth desperately needing to extend a 13-game unbeaten run at McDiarmid Park stretching back to 1995. Instead, they went down with barely a whimper and lost ground on a Hibs side who won at Kilmarnock.
But Saints fans in a crowd boosted by a Tayplay Family Day were rewarded by their first win in five games, posted in style with goals from Murray and Callum Davidson before the break and winger Lee Croft 12 minutes from the end.
The Pars briefly showed the resolve required in their current plight after substitute Paul Burns curled in a 73rd minute shot which Saints fiercely disputed, with two strikers distracting keeper Alan Mannus in offside positions.
But there was no masking the disappointment of manager Jim McIntyre and captain Austin McCann in their frank assessment of a lacklustre display at a crucial phase of the campaign, with the latter admitting players’ careers were on the line and hinting that relegation would pose serious problems for the Fife club.
Skipper McCann said: ”It was very, very disappointing. It was unacceptable. We are meant to be fighting for our lives and certainly in the first half we didn’t show it.
”We’ve got to believe we can still do it. There are careers on the line. The club is desperate to stay in the Premier League and I don’t know what would happen if it went down into the First Division.
”But performances like that aren’t going to keep us up. That will put us down. The majority of the players are out of contract and are fighting for our own lives and the club as well.
”We’ve got to do the business between now and the end of the season. To a certain extent I do feel added responsibility as captain but it has to come from individuals as well. You have to get yourself up for games.”
None of that concerned Saints defender Frazer Wright at the end of a week which saw wife Kirsty deliver baby Chloe just minutes after he arrived at Wishaw hospital in his working clothes, straight from playing at Aberdeen.
He said: ”It has been a good week. I would have liked a clean sheet but my wife Kirsty will be happy with the win bonus.
”We got another goal soon after their one and that settled us down. Lee Croft showed what he is all about and I think there is even more to come from him.”
Saints edged into fourth spot with this well deserved win but Wright, who admitted to sleepless nights with the new arrival, was playing down the prospect of European football.
He said: ”We will see what needs to be done if we can make sure of the top six.”
Saints manager Steve Lomas was annoyed at the Pars goal and demanded a fresh look at the controversial offside law, but he stressed: ”It was a very good performance and the supporters should enjoy it. It has been a long time since they were looking up rather than down.
”When you look at budgets we probably shouldn’t be battling for top six, but we are and it’s almost expected now because the lads have been there all season. But we aren’t getting ahead of ourselves.”
Disappointed Pars manager McIntyre admitted: ”That’s the worst performance in two months in terms of lack of fighting spirit. The players didn’t turn up and Saints were miles better than us.
“The scoreline flattered us. We weren’t good enough. If we perform like there’s no doubt what will happen. But it’s not ominous. It is one performance.”