Motherwell maintained their fine run of form with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Ross County.
Tony Watt’s winner made it six games undefeated and sent the team up to third, after Callum Slattery’s opener was cancelled out by Regan Charles-Cook.
Bevis Mugabi was the only change from the draw at Rangers last weekend, with Ricki Lamie coming in at centre back.
Motherwell started at an electric pace, with Grimshaw going close early with a header.
The opener wouldn’t take long. With two minutes on the clock, the ball broke 25 yards from goal.
As it bounced, Slattery caught it perfectly on the way up and sent his shot perfectly into the top-right corner of the net.
The Steelmen fed off the energy the early goal brought. Woolery saw a drive from the right blocked, while Watt also saw a dipping effort from the left side just go over.
County though would find their feet and Kelly was called into action three times to save smartly as shots rained in on his goal.
‘Well struggled to find the early tempo as the first half wore on, with only an Ojala header on target being saved, and the visitors would make them pay.
The lively Charles-Cook cut onto his right foot on the left corner of the box. Sending the ball across goal, White’s movement was enough to put Kelly off and allow the ball to sneak into the right side of the net.
The break gave Motherwell time to think and they started the second period with a return to life.
Watt was at the heart of things, and thought he’d given ‘Well the lead with a towering header which just clipped the bar as goalkeeper Maynard-Brewer got a touch.
Again though, the verve slowed down and County continued to look dangerous, cutting in from the flanks on several occasions and sending shots towards Kelly’s goal.
‘Well sparked back into life as they pushed hard to regain the advantage and they would get their rewards with 10 to go.
A ball in behind found the ever-energetic Watt. His first touch took him wide but he steadied himself before firing low and hard under the goalkeeper and into the net to send the crowd at Fir Park wild.
Motherwell: Kelly, O’Donnell, Ojala, Lamie, McGinley, Grimshaw (Donnelly), O’Hara, Slattery, Woolery (Roberts), Watt, Van Veen (Carroll).
Subs: Fox, Crawford, Maguire, Amaluzor.
