At the ninth attempt, Dundee United got their first win of the season as they came alive to punish Aberdeen.
A United side previously toiling scored within four minutes of each other before the break to make a difference.
Aberdeen, who have now won only two of their last 23 away games, gave little response as United's Jamie McGrath sealed the points with a composed penalty.
At the bottom of the league, United are just two points away from a place in the top flight.
"We rode our luck a bit early on but we stood firm and then when the opportunities for us came we were ruthless," said Liam Fox.
We still need more from everyone. It could be a turning point, but we have to keep going.
After a fairly cagey opening half hour they sprang to life, with both first-half goals coming down their right-hand side.
On the bye-line, the player who looked a lot more like the player who shone on loan at St Mirren, crossed for Watt. He was going to convert his first United goal.
Watt's shot found the top corner after the cutback.
United responded with an aggressive start to the second half after the Tannadice crowd had something to cheer about.
Aberdeen did edge their way back after the hour thanks to the introduction of two 20-year-olds, one of which was a young player.
The latter lofted a fantastic pass over the top for Bojan Miovski but the Macedonian forward lashed well over, having also got the ball caught under his feet.
Those were Aberdeen's best chances as they turned in another poor performance in front of a large travelling support.
Up the other end, United added to the score when the referee ruled that Craig Sibbald had fallen in the box.
It was fitting that the man who scored his first United goal was the one who had led the charge all night.
Poor communication resulted in the defender heading straight into an empty net when he looked to head back to his keeper.
It has been as bad as it could have been for United. There is no fun to be had at home.
Fox hopes that this can be a turning point. They looked more organized in the early stages.
There was a bang. They started to live. Quality was always present in the United squad. The entire team worked so hard that Watt was as sharp as he's been all season.
It wasn't a good night to be in Aberdeen. It was another miserable away day for the team.
The team has only managed six clean sheets over the course of over 500 games.
They were toothless in attack. The player talked about playing on the front foot.
They don't seem to know how to play without the ball. When they press, they don't squeeze high enough, which makes them vulnerable to balls in behind and over into the middle of the field.
They don't drop deep enough to let the team move up the pitch.
The only good news was the return of Barron. His impact off the bench was damning of those who started.
"I'm really pleased with the result and the performance, but let's not kid ourselves, it's only three points."
That is the level I expect to see in the future. We all know that some of the criticism has been justified. We can't do much except look forward with optimism.
It was just one of those games. We changed it because the two first-half goals were really poor defensively. We lost a penalty and an own goal. It's really disappointing.
Individual and collective errors are to blame. We will go through it with the team and have a discussion about the game.
United will host in-form Hibs on Tuesday, before travelling to face Ross County on Saturday, and Aberdeen will look for a reaction to their loss to Hearts.
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