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“That win is for the supporters. We’re delighted to beat our rivals.”

Motherwell made the short journey home in the knowledge that their first win of the season over Hamilton guaranteed they would be safe from the automatic relegation spot.

Mark O’Hara’s goal late in the first half also meant the Steelmen are all but safe from the relegation battle this season with what should be a safe total of 41 points with three games remaining.

On Hamilton’s artificial surface it was a challenging 90 minutes for both teams but ‘Well dictated most of the play and with a watertight defence never looked conceding a goal or the crucial three points.

After limping off with cramp towards the end of last Friday’s cup tie with Morton, Allan Campbell was fit for a place in a Motherwell side showing two changes. Tyler Magloire returned to form a back three alongside Declan Gallagher and Ricki Lamie. And with O’Hara fit to make his first start in midfield, that allowed Stephen O’Donnell and Nathan McGinley the freedom to press forward and make it five across the middle of the park.

Desperate to take their first point of the season from their Lanarkshire rivals and subsequently ensure they would be clear of the automatic relegation spot, the Fir Park men were on the front foot from the start.

Hamilton’s desire for the points and their own top-flight survival was evident and within a minute Hakeem Odoffin had the chance to open the scoring but pulled his volley across the goal.

After that, though, ‘Well pretty much bossed the first half.

In the first of four rehearsed corners in the opening 12 minutes, Christopher Long’s short pass allowed O’Hara to whip the ball to the back of the six-yard box where Lamie’s powerful header was blocked.

With 10 minutes played Long popped up on the other wing to set up Devante Cole and his curling shot from the corner of the box forced Kyle Gourlay to push the ball behind his left-hand post.

As Liam Kelly regularly pinpointed either O’Donnell or McGinley deep in the Accies half, the home side seldom offered any threat on the ‘Well ‘keeper’s goal.

Just as the game became rather sterile, the Fir Park men produced the best move of the game and the opening goal shortly after Ronan Hughes was dismissed for a reckless challenge for the hosts.

Stephen O’Donnell and Long combined to work the ball across the field to McGinley who moved the ball back across the box to the unmarked O’Hara.

He had time to turn and pick his spot guiding the ball across the Gourlay and inside the ‘keeper’s right-hand post to make it 1-0 and put the visitors in the driving seat.

A minute before the interval the lead was almost doubled. Again O’Donnell was involved wide on the right and when the ball found Cole at the corner of the six-yard box he quickly swivelled before firing the ball just over the bar.

Not surprisingly, with three points on their home pitch absolutely essential, Accies started the second half more determined but from a free kick and then a corner into the six yard area, Kelly remain untroubled.

To be fair at the other end Gourlay was pretty much a spectator and even from a promising position O’Hara’s free kick failed to test the Accies defence.

Twenty minutes into the half Graham Alexander made his first substitution at the expense of Long. 

In a tactical change Barry Maguire came into the midfield allowing O’Hara to move further upfield and support Cole.

A minute later Kelly made his first save. A long ball upfield found Bruce Anderson in the centre of the penalty area but his shot was straight into the arms of the ‘Well ‘keeper.

After that the Steelmen largely controlled play towards the home goal.

Despite having plenty of possession in and around the Accies box Gourlay was seldom tested until the 76th minute when Cole’s drive from 18 yards gave the ‘keeper a comfortable save.

With three minutes remaining and Accies pushing everyone forward ‘Well had a great opportunity to kill the game on the break.

After winning a couple of challenges at the edge of his own box Campbell carried the ball towards Accies’ sole defender. With O’Hara and Cole on either side of him, Campbell picked out the latter but the striker found his path to goal blocked and the chance was gone.

As nothing emerged from the four minutes added time, Motherwell comfortably protected their lead to gain a 12-point advantage over second-bottom Kilmarnock. 

“The past is the past. It’s important for the fans that we get them the win on Wednesday night.”

Chris Lucketti looks ahead to Wednesday night’s Lanarkshire derby at Hamilton Academical.

Motherwell host Hearts in the latest round of SWPL1 fixtures on Wednesday.

Kick off at the Penny Cars Stadium in Airdrie is at 7.30pm.

The game is closed to supporters but is available to watch live online.

Tale of the tape

Motherwell were victorious in the opening meeting between the two sides earlier in the campaign.

The 3-0 win at Oriam brought the team’s only points of the season so far, with ‘Well looking to do an early double to get back up the SWPL1 table.

Form guide

An 8-0 loss to Glasgow City on Sunday sent the champions back to the top of the table.

Prior to the weekend, ‘Well lost their two matches after the restart by the odd goal in five, going down 3-2 to both Forfar Farmington and Hibernian.

Paired with Hearts’ draw with Forfar Farmington, the women of steel dropped to bottom spot, a point behind the Gorgie side.

Hearts had also lost their first two games back, going down 6-0 to Rangers and 3-0 to Celtic.

A live stream of Hamilton Academical v Motherwell is available to watch worldwide on Wednesday evening.

If you’re in the UK or Republic of Ireland, a live stream of the game is available to buy on a pay-per-view basis for £15.

International-based supporters can watch via their usual subscription at live.motherwellfc.co.uk.

Kick-off is at 6pm.

Motherwell head down the road to face Hamilton Academical in the final Lanarkshire derby of the season on Wednesday.

Kick-off is at 6pm.

Watch live

If you’re in the UK or Republic of Ireland, a live stream of the game is available to buy on a pay-per-view basis for £15.

International-based supporters can watch via their usual subscription at live.motherwellfc.co.uk.

Tale of the tape

Hamilton have won all three of the derbies played in the 2020/21 season to date.

A 4-1 win at Fir Park last time out followed on from a 3-0 win at the FOYS Stadium in December, and a 1-0 win in ML1 back in August.

Accies are unbeaten in the last five derby encounters, with Motherwell’s last win coming away in August 2019.

Form guide

‘Well’s penalty shootout win over Morton on Friday made it five wins from the last six matches in all competitions.

Cup wins over the Ton and Formartine United followed on from league success against St Mirren, Hibernian and Livingston.

Accies are without a win in eight matches and have two victories from their last 15 – both of which came against Motherwell.

Our Scottish Cup quarter-final at Hibernian has been selected for live TV coverage.

The match on Saturday 24 April at Easter Road will be shown on Premier Sports in the UK and Ireland.

It will now kick off at 5pm.

Fans based outside the UK/Ireland can watch via their usual subscriptions at live.motherwellfc.co.uk.

How to watch

Sky customers signing up at premiersports.com can watch Motherwell this Saturday on Premier Sports 2 on channel 429.

New customers can subscribe from just £12.99 per month (one month minimum term) with no connection fee.

Premier Sports customers on Sky will also receive free access to the Premier Player by registering here.

Online (Web, iOS App, Android App): Premier Player from just £12.99 per month (one month minimum term) with no connection fee. If using app, please set up account first on web browser before downloading the app.

Virgin customers: Premier Sports channel 552. You can subscribe for £12.99 per month via the provider with no connection fee or minimum contract. Call 0845 840 7777 or set up viewing via box. (Press Home > Apps and Games > All Apps > TV Upgrades.)

Premier Sports offer paid subscription services. Payments for subscriptions to Premier Sports via Sky or the Premier Player streaming service will automatically recur monthly or annually dependent on your chosen package unless notice is given to cancel.

The auto-recurring price will be at the standard rate. Cancellations must be made by phone or email and must include a minimum five days’ notice prior to next bill.

No cancellations accepted within 48 hours of subscribing. Minimum subscription period is dependant (and matches) your chosen package. Terms and Conditions apply. For full terms and conditions visit premiersports.com. Full Terms and Conditions available at premiersports.com.

Motherwell will travel to face Hibernian in the quarter-finals of the 2020/21 Scottish Cup.

Hibernian’s win on Sunday at Stranraer set up next weekend’s tie, with ‘Well having progressed through victory over Greenock Morton.

The match is currently due to be played on Saturday 24 April with a 5pm kick-off. The game will be broadcast live on Premier Sports.

“It was a frustrating night for us. But we’re in the next round and that’s what matters.”

Motherwell, by the narrowest of margins, edged out a gutsy and hardworking Morton to progress to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Gus MacPherson’s men, who despite a gruelling programme of matches to conclude the Championship season, more than matched their Premiership opponents for 120 minutes.

Stephen O’Donnell looked to have won the tie with a stunning strike one minute from the end of extra-time. But Morton responded through Markus Fjortoft with the final touch of the game to force the tie to a penalty shoot-out.

That left Motherwell facing Scottish Cup penalties for the second consecutive season but this time all five were emphatically converted by O’Hara, Cole, Long, Hastie and fittingly O’Donnell. Added to Liam Kelly saving from Sean McGinty meant that the Fir Park men were relieved to move into the last eight.

Graham Alexander was forced into one change with Jordan Roberts failing to recover from Saturday’s injury. Barry Maguire came into the midfield with Steven Lawless pushed forward on the right.

With both sides engaged in a relegation battle from their respective leagues, this cup tie afforded the players an opportunity to be a bit more relaxed and focus on claiming a quarter-final place.

Morton have proved to be regular cup opponents for ‘Well and on their last visit to Fir Park in the Scottish Cup nine years ago, ‘Well cruised 6-0 win.

However, from the early moments of this match a repeat of that scoreline was never likely.

As the Championship side started the game on the front foot, Motherwell looked unsettled and failed to find any rhythm in their play. The absence of Roberts as an outball was clear as the ‘Ton defence easily handled any predictable forward movement from the home side.

Despite Morton’s desire to get forward, Liam Kelly was largely untested and limited to distributing the ball from the back.

After 24 minutes the ‘Well ‘keeper was called into action. Reece Lyon skipped past a couple of challenges on his way into the box but Kelly advanced to block the strikers shot.

That gave the home side a much-needed jolt and ten minutes later were presented with their first chance to test Aidan McAdams in the visitor’s goal. Christopher Long’s burst towards the penalty box was halted by Kyle Jacobs.

From the resultant free-kick, Allan Campbell rolled the ball back to Maguire, who teed himself up before blasting his half volley off the defensive ball.

For the final 10 minutes of the half Motherwell kept Morton in their own half and a couple of chances fell Devante Cole, who fired over and just wide as the Fir Park men finished the half looking more like themselves.

The manager’s half-time message was clear within two minutes of the restart when Long collected a pass from Cole at the edge of the box before firing a low shot which forced McAdams into his first save.

As the home side upped the tempo, Stephen O’Donnell thundered down the right before hooking a ball into the box. But after taking a touch Cole fired the ball wide of target.

With the game moving into the final 30 minutes the Morton players looked a bit weary as the movement of Long and Cole began to create chances. However, a couple of shots from distance did little to threaten McAdam’s goal.

To their credit the Cappielow men caught a second breath and with 15 minutes remaining they were still very much in the tie and with a chance of causing a cup upset.

With 11 minutes remaining that almost arrived when Michael Ledger directed Aidan Nisbet’s cross towards goal forcing Kelly to make a smart save.

Long immediately replied with a low drive from 20 yards which was comfortably held by McAdams.

A spark was needed to win the tie and ‘Well looked to Jake Hastie who replaced Maguire for the final 10 minutes of regulation time.

With neither team able to break the deadlock the game entered 30 minutes extra time.

With Motherwell pressing their tiring visitors deep into their own half the Steelmen passed up a couple of great chances in the first period of extra-time.

Firstly, Hastie was the provider with a quick burst of pace and pass to split the defence and set up Long but from an angle he drove his shot off the foot of the post.

Then Campbell chipped a delightful pass into Hastie’s path but having raced beyond the defence he blasted his shot past the post when he should have least hit the target.

With Morton players falling on tired legs they looked relieved to get into the second period of extra-time on level terms.

And as the tie drifted towards a penalty decider both teams had great chances to clinch the tie.

The first came Morton’s way with six minutes remaining when Craig McGuffie’s header drifted across an open goal as Kelly left his line to claim the ball.

A minute later the Cappielow side were extremely lucky to survive strong penalty appeals when Hastie was tripped as he raced across the box.

‘Ton ‘keeper McAdams then produced a fabulous save to claw a header from Steven Lawless off his line and round the post.

With a minute remaining, Motherwell appeared to have come up with a sensational winner. The ball was worked across the field to O’Donnell and from fully 30 yards he hammered a tremendous low drive past the diving McAdams.

However, in a dramatic end, Markus Fjortoft rose unchallenged to head the ball past Kelly for an equaliser that Morton probably deserved and force the game to a penalty finish.

Thankfully for Alexander’s men they showed their cool with five perfectly taken spot kicks.