Motherwell took a major step towards securing their Premiership status on Saturday afternoon, defeating St Johnstone 3-2 at Fir Park.
Callum Slattery drew Motherwell level after going 1-0 down before Johnny Koutroumbis’ effort found the back of the net just minutes later to turn the game on its head. Tom Sparrow added a third just after the interval, before St Johnstone scored a consolation before the end of the 90.
Motherwell saw off the challenge of St Johnstone for a hard-fought, narrow but deserved win.
The three points were sufficient to ensure that the Fir Park side would be clear of the automatic relegation.
The extensive injury list, which has limited team selection for almost the entire season, posed another problem for the Well boss. Without Liam Gordon and Kofi Balmer, it left Dan Casey as the only recognised central defender in the starting line-up with Stephen O’Donnell and Johnny Koutroumbis alongside the Irishman.
St Johnstone showed no signs of a Scottish Cup semi-final hangover, as needing three points to maintain their slim hopes of surviving relegation, they pushed forward with three up front from the kick-off.
The revamped Well defence was exposed after only six minutes.
Josh McPake powered past Koutroumbis on the left, and his cutback was confidently slammed home by Kirk.
A good break-up field earned the home side its first corner after 20 minutes. Andy Halliday whipped the ball into a packed box, but when the ball was laid back to Harry Paton, he fired over the bar from 16 yards.
Gradually the Steelmen found some half-chances as the game moved towards the interval.
A quick turn at the edge of the box and drive from Slattery after 28 minutes found the ball skimming a couple of feet beyond Andy Fisher’s right-hand post.
A minute later the Well midfield man was on target; this time, his 20-yard shot forced Fisher to stretch himself to push the ball round his left-hand post.
With a bit more urgency in their play, the pressure towards the Saints goal was increasing, and after 38 minutes, the game was level.
Tony Watt chased a ball down the left touchline, and after getting beyond Sam Curtis, he cut the ball back for Slattery, who, third time lucky, slid a low finish inside Fisher’s right-hand post for his fifth since his comeback from injury.
A minute later, Well were ahead, and once again, Watt was the architect. Having sneaked past his marker to get to the byeline, the on-loan striker delivered a teasing ball across the face of the goal. Koutroumbis at the back post made sure of grabbing his first goal for the club, hammering it off the far post and into the net to change the complexity of the game.
Saints tried to get back into the game before the interval, but facing a couple of free kicks, the home defence held firm.
However, it should have been game over within three minutes of the restart when the Fir Park men extended their lead.
Dom Thompson withstood a heavy challenge on the left of the box to get back on his feet. His floated ball into the six-yard box was met by Sparrow, who stabbed it over the line to make it 3-1.
Ellery Balcombe then made his first save low to his left to hold a long-range effort from Steven Taylor.
The Well keeper had to be smart to smother the ball on his goal line as former Hearts striker Uche Ikpeazu tried to force it home.
At the other end, the home side should have extended its lead after 68 minutes. Watt was again the provider, working a quick exchange with Paton on the left before chipping the ball to the waiting Sparrow, who could head the ball straight at Fisher.
A minute later, it was Saints’ Watt who grabbed the headlines when his speculative shot from 22 yards bounced past Balcombe to reduce the leeway and give the visitors a boost.
In an attempt to put the game to bed, Wimmer made his first substitution after 68 minutes, sending on Luke Armstrong to join Watt up front.
It almost paid off 10 minutes later when Armstrong cut the ball back to the corner of the six-yard box, and Watt’s firm snapshot was blocked by the keeper, denying him a thoroughly deserved goal for his massive contribution to the game.
That was recognised by the Fir Park fans when Watt and Halliday had a standing ovation when they made way for Moses Ebiye and Davor Zdravkovski for the final 10 minutes.
With five minutes of additional time signalled and Saints pressing for an equaliser, Kai Andrews replaced Slattery, as his efforts were also recognised by the fans.
As the Perth side made a final onslaught on the Well goal and Wimmer screamed for his players to push Saints further up the pitch, the makeshift defence held out for a narrow win and three points to erase the threat of automatic relegation.
