10.30pm

Tonight's result: Motherwell 1, Hibernian 1.

We had to settle for a point against high-flying Hibs at Fir Park tonight.  Despite taking the lead early on, Hibs equalised from the penalty spot in the second half for a deserved share of the spoils.

It was Motherwell, unchanged from the side which lost to Dundee on Saturday, who dominated early on.  We had a couple of headers cleared off the line and Scott Leitch saw his shot saved by the Hibs goalkeeper, before we finally took the lead in the 26th minute when an unmarked Craigan headed home a Hammell corner.  For some reason we seemed to lose our way a bit after the goal and allowed the visitors back into the match, but saw the half out with our lead intact.

Hibs had the better of the second half, with Motherwell still looking dangerous on the counter attack.  Marshall made a great reaction save from Shiels, which was probably the 'Well goalie's first real involvement in the game.  Midway through the half McDonald spurned a great opportunity when he took the ball on himself instead of releasing the unmarked Hamilton, and Hibs made us pay when they broke upfield shortly afterwards only for Marshall to upend O'Connor in the box and the ref to award a penalty.  Many 'Well fans were up in arms over the decision, but it looked like a spot kick to me and there were few protests from the players.  Riordan slotted the penalty home to level the scores, and although both sides had opportunities in the closing stages the match ended 1 apiece.

Reckon I would probably have settled for a point before tonight's game, but it was a bit disappointing the way we lost our shape after getting ourselves into a great position by taking the lead.  Probably a major turning point was TB's decision to substitute Phil O'Donnell for Marc Fitzpatrick at the interval.  Phil was very influential in the first half and I can only assume he picked up a knock, and his departure was all the more noticeable as Fitzpatrick hardly touched the ball at all when he came on.  I also wasn't particularly impressed with our wide players (Paterson and McBride) tonight, although the defence played well and Quinn had an excellent game.

Team (4-4-2): Marshall, Quinn, Craigan, Partridge, Hammell, McBride, O'Donnell (Fitzpatrick 45), Leitch, Paterson (Clarkson 88), Hamilton, McDonald (Foran 76).
Subs Not Used: Corr, Wright, Kinniburgh, Connolly.

Booked: Hamilton, Craigan.

Attendance: 7,453.