Hibernian 1-0 Motherwell

Colin Nish fired the only goal of the game as Hibs gave their Uefa Cup aspirations a boost with a narrow victory over Motherwell at Easter Road.

Nish sped through the Well defence in the 52nd minute before slotting the ball past Graeme Smith.

The visitors pressed for an equaliser and were given hope when Hibs defender Ian Murray was sent off for a second bookable offence after 80 minutes.

Darren Smith and Ross McCormack spurned late chances to restore parity.


Hibs made four changes with Martin Canning, Colin Nish, Filipe Morais and Merouane Zemmama all returning following Scottish Cup defeat by Rangers.

Thierry Gathuessi, Abderaouf Zarabi, Alan O'Brien and the suspended Dean Shiels dropped out of the starting line-up.

Bob Malcolm came in for the suspended Paul Quinn to make his Motherwell debut at Easter Road.

Steven McGarry returned to the starting line-up in place of Keith Lasley.

Yves Ma-Kalambay almost gifted the visitors the lead when he spilled a low drive by Stephen Hughes, but he atoned for his error by blocking the rebound from David Clarkson.

Well goalkeeper Smith was then called into action to thwart Zemmama's low drive after the Moroccan was cleverly played in by Nish.

Steven Fletcher looked certain to score from the rebound but Smith reacted superbly to save.

Motherwell had a penalty appeal waved away in the opening minute of the second half when Chris Hogg appeared to bundle McCormack over in the box.

Hibs continued to press for the opener and Morais shot wide before Smith held Fletcher's 30-yard strike.

Nish gave the home side a deserved the lead in the 52nd minute after he finished a solo run with a composed finish from 12 yards.

Motherwell were handed a lifeline with 10 minutes left when Murray - who had earlier been boked for a foul on McCormack - received his second yellow card for a tackle on Hughes.

But despite their numerical advantage they failed to carve out an equaliser as Hibs held on for victory.