Motherwell 3-1 Kilmarnock

Motherwell sealed their place in the Scottish Premiership for another season with only their fifth home league win of the season against Kilmarnock.

Carl McHugh's sweet strike put the hosts ahead in the first minute before Adam Frizzell's low shot made it 1-1.

Both sides missed further chances before substitute Lionel Ainsworth's thumping free-kick regained the lead.

Kilmarnock pressed for an equaliser but a slick Well counter saw Elliott Frear tuck home Louis Moult's precise cross.

Chants of 'We are staying up' drifted round Fir Park as victory lifted Motherwell above Dundee into ninth place, six points clear of 11th-placed Hamilton with one game left.

Kilmarnock, already safe, drop to eighth place after a third defeat in four matches - the other ending in a draw - against Motherwell this season.

It was an emotional night at Fir Park. A minute's silence for former 'Well goalkeeper Cammy Duncan, who died recently aged 51 after a long illness, was hardly over before his old team took the lead.

There were just 41 seconds on the clock when Frear swung in a low corner from the left and McHugh met it perfectly to stun Kilmarnock. It looked like one from the training ground.

But the Fir Park side - who had lost 11 of their previous 18 home league games - could maintain that lead for only 15 minutes.

The diminutive Frizzell and Jordan Jones were causing all sorts of problems and Motherwell failed to deal with a dancing run and cross from Jones, captain Keith Lasley missing his attempted clearance.

Adam Frizzell's low strike brought Kilmarnock level after conceding inside the first minute

The ball fell for Frizzell, who struck a low right-foot shot into the far right corner past goalkeeper Russell Griffiths.

The ebb and flow of the game continued. Moult was clean through only for Jamie MacDonald to produce a wonderful save, before Motherwell were forced to endure intense pressure, mainly from the highly talented Jones.

He inflicted such torment on young David Ferguson that Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson removed the youngster after just 37 minutes and brought on the pacy Ainsworth, re-deploying Chris Cadden to deal with the electric Jones.

It proved to be an inspired switch when Ainsworth rifled home a sensational 52nd- minute free-kick.

The winger was 10 yards from the by-line and two yards outside the area on the left side of the box, and struck a thunderous curling strike which sizzled past the despairing MacDonald.

Ainsworth began to emerge as the game's most influential player, providing an outlet to release pressure on Well's under-siege defence, delighting the home support in a crowd of 5,246.

Elliott Frear's first goal for Motherwell ensured victory... and safety

When news filtered through of Ross County's second goal in Dingwall against Hamilton, the nerves of the home fans started to ease.

But any lingering doubt - with Accies forcing an equaliser, before conceding a late winner - was finally removed with a third goal.

It was a classic counter-attack with Ainsworth supplying Moult on the left flank and his pin-point cross finding Frear, who collected it in his stride and rounded MacDonald before rolling the ball into an empty net.

Roll up for more Premiership football at Fir Park next season.

Post-match reaction:

Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson: "It is relief, more than mass celebration. We have not given the fans a super season, so there is nothing to celebrate. But we have managed to stay up with back-to-back victories and we are delighted.

"The young boy [David Ferguson] had a hard night against Jordan Jones who is an excellent footballer I know well, and in the end we put Chris Cadden against him and I thought he was absolutely outstanding. Lionel [Ainsworth] came on and scored a great goal but Chris won us the match.

"There is a lot of rebuilding to do. We have got 14 players contracted for next season but no goalkeepers and only one centre-half. So we have to be bright and build on what we have got."

Kilmarnock interim manager Lee McCulloch: "Two set-plays cost us, and a breakaway goal. Overall it's disappointing to lose but the manner of the goals was even more disappointing.

"I'm delighted with the first half, we were by far the better team, but in the second half you could probably argue that Motherwell deserved it with the way they pressed and hit us on the counter-attack."