Saints suffer narrow defeat at Well

Henrik Ojamaa struck twice as Motherwell defeated St Johnstone 3-2 to move six points clear in third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Motherwell took the lead against the run of play after 22 minutes when Nicky Law slipped the ball through to Ojamaa and he hammered the ball across Peter Enckelman and into the bottom left-hand corner.

St Johnstone grabbed the equaliser their play merited a minute before the break when Lee Croft did well to find Jody Morris, who unleashed an unstoppable effort beyond Darren Randolph.

Motherwell took the lead in the 65th minute with their first effort of the second half, Ojamaa looked to have miscontrolled Tom Hateley's pass but the Estonian recovered to fire beyond Enckelman.

The hosts doubled their advantage with 15 minutes remaining when Keith Lasley ended a lightning-fast breakaway with a 25-yard effort which looped over Enckelman. But St Johnstone attempted to find a way back into the game and they were handed the perfect opportunity when referee Calum Murray pointed to the spot when Murray Davidson was felled by Lasley.

From the resulting penalty Francisco Sandaza rifled the ball into the roof of the net to set up an exciting conclusion to the match. However, the visitors were unable to breach the Motherwell defence and the hosts held out for the victory.