Lewis Irons at Fir Park
Motherwell maintained their unbeaten home start to 2018 with a 1-1 draw against Partick Thistle.
But it required Nadir Çiftçi’s first goal in claret and amber for Stephen Robinson’s side to come from behind to grab a point.
Kris Doolan’s free header put the visitors in front on an afternoon when ‘We’ll were denied an offside goal and keeper Tomas Cerny turned a Tom Aldred header off the line.
Stephen Robinson named three changes to the side which lost narrowly to Hibs, recalling Chris Cadden and goalscorer Çiftçi to the starting line up whilst handing a debut to Stephen Hendrie.
Çiftçi was unfortunate to be denied by the ankles of Cerny when he turned a delightful ball from Craig Tanner on target. And then down the other end, Ryan Edwards missed a glorious opportunity to head Partick in front from four yards.
During a rather uneventful first half, Thistle perhaps escaped a red card when Abdul Osman went in high on Allan Campbell. Referee Nick Walsh flashed a yellow card.
Robinson made an immediate change at half time to try and wrestle control of the match, introducing Richard Tait in place of Hendrie, who is still chasing full match fitness.
Tom Aldred nearly turned a header beyond Cerny from close range, but a deflection off Çiftçi and a last gasp turn off the line denied ‘Well taking the lead.
Instead, it was the visitors who went in front. Martin Woods sent a pin point free kick on to the head of Kris Doolan, who arrowed a header in to the top corner and beyond the stretch of Trevor Carson.
The response was swift from the Steelmen though, who dominated the second half and eventually drew level.
Çiftçi, bringing the ball under control in the box, let the ball bounce before lashing a terrific finish low past the keeper and in to the bottom corner.
In the end, it was the clock that denied Robinson’s side grabbing all three points. However, the draw extends an unbeaten start to the year at Fir Park ahead of another home fixture on Tuesday night, when St Johnstone arrive in Lanarkshire.