Formartine secured their third win in seven days but had to endure a nervy final five minutes after Strathspey pulled it back to 2-1.
United manager Kris Hunter was happy with the result, if not the performance, and said: “We were poor in the final third, we had a lot of chances but Strathspey defended very well and their goalkeeper had a really good game, but a win is a win.
“That’s three home wins in the last seven days – a 4-0 victory against Annan in the Scottish Cup, we then beat Keith 5-2 in the league on Wednesday night, and we picked up another valuable three points so I’m happy enough with that.
“Strathspey were well-organised and difficult to break down and scared us a bit when they got a goal back late on, apart from that I felt we more than comfortable.”
Strathspey Thistle manager Brian Grant was delighted with the application shown by his players, and said: “I was really proud and they did exactly what was asked of them. Our plan was to harry them as much as we could, not allow them time on the ball. It worked.”
United took the lead in the 35th minute through Callum Dingwall prodded the ball home from close range and the home side appeared to be on easy street 11 minutes after the break when Stuart Anderson punished a Strathspey mistake.
When Jags’ Robert Scott pulled one back in the 87th minute it made for an uneasy last few minutes for the home team but United held on.