Despite Motherwell going two goals behind, Michael Wimmer’s side battled back valiantly to earn a point in the Fir Park sun.
A deflected goal from Caolan Boyd-Munce and a smart finish from Killian Phillips gave Saints a two-goal lead, before Callum Slattery’s well-measured strike reduced the leeway before half-time.
Slattery’s equaliser in an injury-strewn second half, including a serious one to Saints’ Boyd-Munce, was enough to see both sides having to settle for a share of the points.
Michael Wimmer made two changes from the side which won at Ibrox two weeks ago. Stephen O’Donnell returned to the back three, while striker Luke Plange was given his first start up front in place of the injured Luke Armstrong.
It should have been the perfect start for the Steelmen. With only a minute on the clock, a defensive mix-up at the edge of the Saints box allowed Tom Sparrow to race through on goal. But as Zach Hemming advanced from his line, the Well wide man lifted the ball over the keeper and his open goal.
The home goal had a narrow escape 22 minutes in when Dom Thompson’s poor clearance forced O’Donnell to head the ball off his own goal line.
The Well captain was less fortunate a minute later when the Paisley men took the lead. Although Boyd-Munce’s shot from 25 yards was on target, O’Donnell’s head sent the ball into the opposite corner of Balcombe’s goal. 0-1.
While Lennon Miller and Slattery pushed forward at every turn to support Plange, the ball never stayed up front for long.
And after 33 minutes, the Buddies doubled their lead with a well-taken goal. A cross into the box found Phillips, who chested the ball down before his half volley sent the ball flying past Balcombe from 16 yards.
Well’s response was immediate. Straight from the restart, Balcombe’s long ball was worked towards the visitor’s penalty area by Slattery, where he sidestepped Alex Iacovitti before steering the ball with the outside of his right boot inside Hemming’s right-hand post for a superb finish.
With renewed confidence, the Steelmen then had a period of sustained possession and pressure in the final third of the pitch.
A couple of minutes from half-time they almost found the equaliser with a swift attack. O’Donnell’s long diagonal ball found Thompson racing towards the box, and after he stretched to pull the ball back for Miller, the 18-year-old could only fire wide of target.
Eleven minutes into the second half, the Well boss brought on the experienced Harry Paton and Tony Watt at the expense of Kai Andrews and the hard-working Plange, who had a difficult shift against the physical presence of Saints central defenders.
All too often, play was broken up with a series of clumsy challenges.
On the hour mark, Iacovitti’s robust challenge took out several players, including his teammate Boyd-Munce. After a lengthy treatment on the touchline, the Saints midfielder was stretchered off wearing a neck brace.
It took Well only a couple of minutes after the long stoppage to find their feet and the equaliser.
Watt’s touch at the edge of the box inadvertently set up Slattery, who smacked the ball low and hard into the right-hand corner of Hemming’s goal to make it 2-2.
A minute later the game was halted again after a head knock between Liam Gordon and Toyosi Olusanya forced another substitution with Kofi Balmer coming into the Well central defence.
Not surprisingly, play became rather ragged and hurried as both teams chased a winning goal.
Another high challenge from Olusanya, this time on Dan Casey, earned the Saints striker a second yellow, reducing the visitors to 10 men for the final 20 minutes.
All of that added up to 14 additional minutes and sufficient time for Well to press home their extra man.
With 96 minutes showing on the stadium clock, Wimmer threw on another forward, Moses Ebiye replacing Andy Halliday, but a winner for a third consecutive game never came.
Motherwell Team: Balcombe, Sparrow, O’Donnell, Gordon, Casey, Thompson, Halliday, Slattery, Miller, Andrews, Plange.
Motherwell Subs: Oxborough, Balmer, Wilson, Zdravkovski, Paton, Koutroumbis, Ebiye, Dickson.
