Aberdeen 0-1 Motherwell

A late winner from Motherwell clinched second place in the Premiership from under the noses of Aberdeen.

The Dons dominated large spells of the match with Jonny Hayes hitting the bar and Niall McGinn twice being denied when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

At the other end Motherwell were little threat and the hosts looked on course to see the game out comfortably.

However a minute into time added on, Craig Reid forced in the winner from close range to stun Pittodrie.

It was a hugely frustrating finish to the season for Derek McInnes' men with constant one-way traffic throughout failing to give the large home support in the 17,016 crowd the goal they craved.

Motherwell were far from their best, but they finish in second spot for the second season in a row, landing themselves an extra £240,000. However, the Dons will be in next season's Europa League qualifiers, albeit a round earlier than the Steelmen.

A successful season ended on a low for the Dons

Aberdeen were on the front foot early. Hayes shrugged off two minders to get into the box and drill a low ball across goal that Lee Hollis pushed away, but no-one in red could pounce on the loose ball.

The Dons only needed a point to secure second spot in the table, but continued to be the aggressors with Motherwell struggling to get out of their own half.

McGinn and Ryan Jack both fired in efforts from the edge of the box while Barry Robson rattled a free-kick against the wall.

Motherwell were surviving the onslaught but suffered a blow when Lionel Ainsworth limped off after just 17 minutes to be replaced by Henri Anier.

The visitors elected to sit deeper in order to nullify Aberdeen's early threat, and it worked with the early barrage of chances becoming fewer, though it took until past the half-hour mark for their first chance of note; Iain Vigurs firing over after Robson lost possession just outside his own box.

Hayes outpaced Fraser Kerr on the left wing and his cross bounced off the woodwork.

At the other end, Keith Lasley beat Shaleum Logan to the ball and teed up Anier, who tried unsuccessfully to catch out Jamie Langfield at the near post.

Mark Reynolds glanced a header wide from Robson's free-kick as Aberdeen began the second half in the same vein as the first, and Shaun Hutchinson was the hero for Motherwell with two goal-saving challenges.

McGinn looked to have raced clear and was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the Motherwell defender sprinted back and timed his challenge to perfection to deny the Dons top goalscorer.

Minutes later and McGinn once more beat the offside trap, but as he sized up the shot Hutchinson again slid in to deflect the ball clear for a corner.

The game was following a similar pattern to the first 45 minutes with Motherwell rarely getting out of their own half.

Stuart McCall had to do something if the Fir Park men were to leapfrog Aberdeen in the table, and with a quarter of an hour to go he gambled - replacing centre-back Stephen McManus with James McFadden.

A poor decision by the assistant referee denied Aberdeen with Peter Pawlett at least a yard onside as he broke through and rounded the goalkeeper, but the flag went up and halted his progress.

However, the Dons still looked like they were about to secure second place right up until almost the lack kick of the ball when Motherwell snatched it right at the death.

Langfield failed to deal with the long free-kick into the box under pressure from John Sutton who appeared to nudge him away from the flight of the ball, and it bounced off the ground and onto the bar behind him.

Kerr saw his shot blocked on the line by Russell Anderson, but Reid bundled the rebound over the line to spark wild celebrations from the large travelling support.