More than 50 men may already have thrown their hats into the ring, but Motherwell's players did their bit to make the vacant manager's position even more attractive at Fir Park.

An Iain Vigurs strike in the second half brought their first league win in close to two months at the expense of the league leaders.

It was their first victory on their own patch since they defeated St Mirren on the opening day of the campaign, a month since they last won - at Ross County - and their performance was a commendable response to the disappointment they genuinely felt at last weekend's departure of Stuart McCall.

The victory had in fact proved their old manager right on one point, as his former second in command Kenny Black, now in caretaker charge, explained afterwards. "Stuart sent us a lovely message before the game wishing myself and the rest of the lads all the very best and saying he had a little notion that we would win tonight and he was spot on," he said.

Black admitted they had to work for their win and that United had contributed to an exciting evening. "As the game went, I'm not going to be kidded on, we defended heroically at times," he said. "In the first half in particular they had a load of possession, but possession stats don't really matter - it was 1-0. We had good opportunities in the second half and I'm delighted with the goal from Iain Vigurs. It finishes off what has been

a very difficult week for everyone."

In terms of what the change in fortunes means for his own position, Black chose his words carefully, but the relief at turning things around before the international break was clear. "I've been asked about the job but I'm not privy to what the directors are thinking. I'm going to go home at the weekend and the players are going to have a couple of weeks off. We don't have a game for a fortnight now and it gives everyone a chance to look at things," he said.

"Forget about me. I'm not particularly enjoying talking about me, it's about those players through there and they've been through some difficult times and some difficult performances, but they got their just rewards tonight."

Neither side went into the match with a particular love for Friday nights. United had been in a similar situation, leading the league, when they visited Kilmarnock a month ago, only to lose 2-0. Motherwell, for their part, had lost on the previous two Fridays, the second defeat of which had proved the last straw for McCall.

United dominated the first half, and in particular the opening exchanges, when they squandered a series of chances. Their hosts finally offered a real threat when Henrik Ojamaa fired an angled shot just wide before creating a chance for Vigurs who failed to keep his shot down when 15 yards out.

The lively Aidan Connolly then created chances for Ryan Dow and Blair Spittal, whose left-footed toe-poke was just wide before his own deflected shot was well saved by the retreating Dan Twardzik.

Motherwell started the second half brightly. An Ainsworth shot rebounded clear off the inside of

Cierzniak's left post, but their taking of the lead was only delayed by two minutes. Referee Steve McLean deserved some of the credit for applying the advantage superbly when Keith Lasley looked to have been fouled as he released Vigurs on the left, before the midfielder took it in his stride in space and slid the ball forcefully across Cierzniak and inside the opposite side-netting.

Ainsworth thought he had registered a second just three minutes later with a delightful finish, neatly touching the ball past the advancing goalkeeper after breaking clear, but he was deemed, wrongly, to have been just offside.

The hosts twice came close to doubling their advantage again, with Ojamaa shooting powerfully wide before nearly putting Ainsworth through on goal.

Vigurs almost wrapped things up three minutes before the end with a well controlled, left-footed half-volley from 20 yards out, but it was always going just wide. The last opportunity was created and almost converted by Ojamaa as he cut in from the left and forced Cierzniak into a save with the match's last kick.