IT was Fir Park for thrills but this drama soaked in goals on a sodden pitch had the most predictable ending for those who have watched the SPFL Premiership unfold.
The collapse of Partick Thistle in the final minutes will cause pain to their support but no surprise. This was a match of twists and turns but it followed one well-worn storyline. This was Thistle, the re-run.
The 2013/2014 Partick Thistle entertain and occasionally entrance. They also have a diabolical alchemy in that they can turn winning positions into losing ones.
In contrast, Stuart McCall's side have now an almost traditional trait instilled by the manager since he arrived in 2010: they keep on keeping on. They also have a definitive way of playing. The cast may change but the roles remain the same. Stephen McManus plays Stephen Craigan, Lionel Ainsworth plays Chris Humphrey, John Sutton plays Michael Higdon, and Keith Lasley plays, well, Keith Lasley.
McCall insists that this blend of power and pace steps off the front foot, and he values persistence. Motherwell, then, were hardly out of the game with five minutes to go.
Thistle, in a piece of almost clichéd typecasting, were ahead 3-2 and had claims to fielding two of the best players on the pitch with the neat and industrious Stuart Bannigan and the effervescent Kallum Higginbotham, who scored twice - one a showstopper if not a matchwinner - before leaving the pitch to let his mates play down the clock.
Instead, Thistle lost two goals and the match in such a fashion that Alan Archibald, their manager, deserves counselling rather than consolation.
He has constructed a side who are brave in possession and play with a confidence, if not a ruthlessness, in going forward. They were rewarded with three goals on Saturday and if that tally is not enough to win a match then a productive inquest has to be held if a postmortem on their season is not conducted in May.
Archibald will be blamed for making three late substitutions - the removal of Higginbotham caused much post-match debate - but he was seeking to revitalise a side that suddenly seemed to be labouring on a heavy surface.
Indisputably, the manager was not to blame for the loss of the goals that turned the prospect of a glittering three points into the dust of woeful defeat.
Partick Thistle were not blinded by brilliance at the end or undone by trickery. James McFadden had intermittently supplied both in an impressive second-half performance for Motherwell but it was simple, straightforward football that damned the men from Maryhill.
The late equaliser was the result of Ainsworth being allowed to cross and Sutton heading in at the back post. The winner came when Stevie Hammell launched a free-kick from a different postcode and McManus rose to head home.
Teams that lose these types of goals lose matches, lose confidence and can lose their place in the division. Archibald called on his players to "man up" in the aftermath of a draining defeat and his rallying call was echoed by Paul Gallacher, his 34-year-old Scottish internationalist goalkeeper.
"We are quite a naive team," he said. "We want to go and play, and keep going and going fast and furious rather than killing the game, keeping possession and seeing the clock out. We want to play football and we leave ourselves exposed sometimes. We play in the right manner but we need to use our loaf a bit more and see games out better."
These are words of undoubted truth. They must, though, be heeded or they could serve as an obituary to Thistle's brief spell in the SPFL Premiership.
Motherwell, in contrast, have a future that should include a European place at the end of the season. McCall's team has flaws - and defended desperately at times - but these are overcome domestically by a fine spirit, a cohesion and some talented individuals. The manager will hope that Lasley's knee injury does not prove too serious, but he will be encouraged by a performance that was typical in its strength of purpose.
Ainsworth - who scored a brilliant goal, created the late equaliser and conceded a penalty - articulated in words what was obvious in action.
"There is a tremendous belief and spirit in our team," said the 26-year-old Englishman.
"We are playing with a lot of confidence and even when they went 3-2 in front we always felt there was a way back. There's a lot of strong characters in our dressing room and that really showed in the last 10 minutes."
This is the Motherwell DNA. Thistle have 12 games to show it exists in the body of their team.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article