Point lifts Well off bottom
Motherwell moved off the foot of the Scottish Premiership with a 1-1 home draw against Kilmarnock but will be disappointed not to have claimed all three points after playing the entire second half against 10 men.
A stunning strike by Tope Obadeyi gave Kilmarnock an early lead before his team-mate Daryl Westlake saw red after picking up two bookings in quick succession just before half-time.
Scott McDonald levelled for Motherwell directly from the second of those free-kicks awards, his first goal since returning to Fir Park.
The home side had plenty of possession after the break but could not create the opportunity that would have given them a crucial win in their fight against the drop.
After an overnight downpour in Lanarkshire, the match went ahead after the pitch passed a morning inspection but, with the surface cutting up badly in areas, both sides deserve credit for trying to play football on the surface.
The Motherwell fans were screaming for a penalty after just five minutes when Marvin Johnson got his toe to the ball ahead of the onrushing Kilmarnock goalkeeper Craig Samson, the winger tumbling to the ground only for referee John Beaton to show him a yellow card for simulation.
Josh Magennis then shot wide as Killie threatened for the first time and at the opposite end a snap-shot by McDonald from the edge of the area drew the first save of the match, Samson saving well low to his right.
The visitors moved ahead after 19 minutes, Nathan Eccleston breaking down the left before feeding the ball across the 18-yard line where it eventually found its way to Obadeyi arriving from the opposite flank. Josh Law looked to have forced the winger wide but he produced a thunderous finish high past George Long into the roof of the net from an acute angle.
Motherwell tried to respond quickly and a Johnson cross from the left presented a good opportunity to Conor Grant but Samson managed to tip his goal-bound header over the bar.
Grant then swung in a corner that Stephen McManus met with a crashing volley but Kilmarnock captain Manual Pascali bravely threw himself in the way of the strike to block.
Kilmarnock were looking dangerous on the break and Craig Slater came agonisingly close to doubling their lead as he cut inside from the left flank past a couple of challenges and sent a right-foot effort inches past Long's right-hand post.
Johnson was providing a threat for the home side and again he got a cross into the area, this time for McDonald, whose header was smothered on the line by Samson.
McDonald then had a half-volley blocked behind by Lee Ashcroft, and from the resulting corner Grant's low delivery was blazed over by Louis Laing from a good position as the home side tried to level before the break.
They were given a boost on 44 minutes as Kilmarnock were reduced to 10 men, Westlake receiving his second yellow card for a foul on Johnson on the edge of the area having been booked for a poor tackle on the same player just minutes before.
The free-kick was to prove doubly costly as McDonald curled a lovely right-foot effort up and over the wall to nestle in Samson's bottom right-hand corner and haul Motherwell level on the stroke of half-time.
Kilmarnock manager Gary Locke sacrificed the attacking threat of Chris Johnston at half-time, sending on defender Ross Barbour to shore things up at the back with his side a man light.
The visitors were succeeding in limiting Motherwell to half-chances and shots from distance and they were willing to put their bodies on the line to block any efforts that the Steelmen did get away.
Indeed, they almost regained the lead on a foray forward when Eccleston received the ball from a throw-in with his back to goal before rolling Laing and flashing a high effort just past the upright.
Lionel Ainsworth was sent on as Motherwell tried to break the stubborn Killie rear-guard down and he almost put the ball on a plate for McDonald after being played in on the right channel by Law, Ashcroft doing well to stretch and cut the ball out just in the nick of time.
Motherwell found it difficult to create any clear-cut openings as frustration set in amongst the home support and, despite some late pressure, the visitors held on for a deserved point.
Source: PA
