Ten-man Motherwell were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Kilmarnock on a freezing Friday night at Fir Park as they failed to make it three Premiership wins in a row.
Liam Gordon’s early opener for Motherwell was cancelled out in the second half by former Fir Park star Liam Polworth in a game that saw Dan Casey sent off for an altercation with Danny Armstrong late in the second half.
Gordon put Motherwell ahead in 17 minutes with his first goal for the club, and it was probably just about deserved on the balance of play.
That isn’t saying much, though, in a first half that served up very few chances of note for the crowd that flocked to Fir Park.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had an early header saved, but was offside. Motherwell took the lead, and Kyle Vassell forced a routine save from Aston Oxborough with a low shot. That was literally it.
Killie had their tails up in the second half and sub Kyle Magennis saw a shot well saved before Polworth netted a leveller.
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell made one change to the side that beat Dundee United 4-3 here last weekend, as striker Tony Watt came in for Tawanda Maswanhise, who dropped to the bench.
His Kilmarnock counterpart Derek McInnes made three changes from the side that beat Hearts 1-0 on Sunday. Goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara came in for Robby McCrorie, and David Watson and Kyle Vassell replaced suspended Robbie Deas and Bobby Wales.
Motherwell threatened almost immediately when Andy Halliday’s free kick from the right flank was headed at the back post by Stamatelopoulos, forcing a stunning save from O’Hara, but the offside flag went up.
But the hosts took the lead in 17 minutes when Lennon Miller’s cross from the right was headed at the back post by Dan Casey, which struck the left post, and Gordon slammed in the rebound.
It took Killie quite some time to recover, and the closest they came to a chance was in 31 minutes when Vassell’s low shot was comfortably held by Oxborough.
Stamatelopoulos was given a sniff of goal in 57 minutes, but blasted over the bar.
Joe Wright headed a corner wide of the left post in 60 minutes, but it was more of the half-chance variety for Kilmarnock.
Motherwell were potentially given a let-off in 62 minutes when Halliday appeared to foul Brad Lyons in the box, but referee Chris Graham gave the foul against the Kilmarnock man.
Vassell nearly levelled for Killie in 72 minutes, with his shot spilled past the left post by Oxborough.
But Killie did draw level in 74 minutes from the corner when Lyons set up Polworth to slam into the net.
Dan Casey was shown a straight red card for an altercation inside the Motherwell box with Armstrong, in which he raised his hands to an opponent, a decision upheld after a VAR check.
Killie were fortunate not to escape a similar fate when sus Tawanda Mawanhise was felled by Wright as he bore down on goal, but a booking sufficed.
Maswanhise sent the free kick narrowly wide of the left post from just outside the corner of the box.
MOTHERWELL: Oxborough, Kaleta, Casey, Gordon, Blaney, Seddon (Wilson, 38), Paton (Sparrow, 69), Halliday (Zdravkovski, 69), Miller, Watt (Ebiye, 84), Stamatelopoulos (Maswanhise, 84)
Subs (not used): Hegyi (GK), Balmer, Tavares
Sent off: Casey (78)
Bookings: Paton (56)
KILMARNOCK: O’Hara, Mayo, Wright, Ndaba, Lyons, Watson (Magennis, 70), Polworth (McKenzie, 90+4), Murray, Vassell, Watkins (Wales, 51), Anderson (Armstrong, 70)
Subs (not used): McCrorie (GK), Burroughs, Mackay-Steven, Cameron, Bainbridge
Bookings: Watson (45), Wright (84), Magennis (90+3)
Referee: Chris Graham
Attendance: 4966