Kilmarnock 3 Motherwell 2

Kilmarnock held on for an important victory on home soil in a five-goal thriller with Motherwell on a sunny but crisp Autumn’s Day at BBSP Stadium Rugby Park.

Killie got off to a flier as the clock struck just one minute. A combination of Joe Hugill, Tom Lowery and Tyreece John-Jules picked off the Steelmen at a by-kick. The ball would fall to Greg Kiltie, whose initial effort was blocked, but kindly fell back to his feet in a shoot position. He made no mistake with the second attempt, finding the far bottom corner for an early advantage to the hosts.

Moments later, Hugill ought to have doubled the lead after another mistake was picked up on by John-Jules. He played a delightful through-ball for his strike partner to run onto, but the finish was wayward.

After settling on the ball, Motherwell levelled the score after 17 minutes. Cal Ferrie produced a wonderful point blank save at first, after the visitors got in-behind the defence on the right side, but the ball deflected to Lowry, who slotted home to equalise.

Motherwell looked the more dangerous all of a sudden, hitting the post through Maswanhise shortly after the goal. Around the half-hour mark, Cathal McCarthy also had to put his body on the line to block another Lowry effort from inside the box.

Killie managed to get a foothold in the match again before the break, with John-Jules unleashing a thunderous hit towards Paulsen. The goalkeeper got down well low to his right to save.

After half-time, George Stanger was shown a straight red card by referee Calum Scott. VAR checked the incident, which was deemed as serious foul play, and the decision was overturned, with the card downgraded to yellow.

Less than a minute later, Palmer Houlden bundled the ball over the line. The goal came from a dangerous cross played in-between the defence and Ferrie.

However, the visitors’ lead was short-lived, as John-Jules slammed home after a lovely spin and show of strength against O’Donnell to equalise almost immediately after the set back. A deserved goal for the frontman.

On 69 minutes, the skipper latched onto a flick on by Hugill. He remained calm under pressure, and cooly slotted him beyond Paulsen for his second of the game, as Killie re-established the lead.

Killie had a strong shout for a penalty waved away when John-Jules spun in-behind again. The striker clearly had his shirt pulled, but no penalty was given, and no obvious VAR intervention.

Ferrie did well to hold a cross by Kanga to relieve some late pressure on the Killie backline, as all three points were deservedly achieved.

Attendance: 5,137

Team: Ferrie, Kamson-Kamara (Brandon, 33’), McCarthy, Ring, Hugill, John-Jules (Daniels, 76’), Kiltie (Owen, 76’), Stanger, Lowery, Schjønning-Larsen, Rice (Tshibola, 35’).

Unused subs: Mantl, O’Hara, Deas, Meier, Cleșcenco.

Booked: Stanger.