Heart of Midlothian 1-0 Motherwell

Hearts registered their first league win of the season at Tynecastle thanks to Kyle Lafferty's first-half strike.

The Northern Ireland striker scored after some clever individual play and a deflection off Charles Dunne.

This was Hearts' fourth game in front of the redeveloped Main Stand at Tynecastle and their first win in seven games.

Motherwell came close through Craig Tanner's free-kick but could not deliver an equaliser.

On a perishingly cold Edinburgh afternoon, this was a grind of a football match, a game that often lacked composure, wit and anything that might have taken the mind off the temperature.

Misplaced pass followed misplaced pass. Aimless punt downfield followed aimless punt downfield.

Things were not helped by the early injury that forced Hearts' Jamie Walker to leave the field, soon to be followed by Chris Cadden, the Motherwell midfielder. Those two might have brought some craft, but the pair were gone after little more than half an hour.

Hearts midfielder Jamie Walker was replaced with an injury after 22 minutes at Tynecastle

Motherwell were already under-strength as it was, with no Louis Moult, no Peter Hartley and no Trevor Carson either.

The opening half was a dreadful exercise in players running around in a frenetic pursuit of the ball.

Hearts had the majority of the play but nothing in the way of proper chances beyond a scuffed effort from Lafferty and a volley miles over by Lewis Moore.

Six minutes before the break, a goal dropped out of the sky and it was all down to Lafferty's persistence and Motherwell's defensive frailty.

The visitors felt their midfielder, Allan Campbell, had been fouled in the build-up, but what happened thereafter left their manager, Stephen Robinson, in an apoplectic fit.

Cedric Kipre was completely mugged by Lafferty on the right side of the Motherwell penalty area, the striker sliding in and hooking the ball away from the defender before turning and slamming his shot past goalkeeper Russell Griffiths via a slight deflection.

It was Lafferty's first goal in five games and it took him to 10 for the season.

It was a precious lead for a side that hadn't won in six games and who had scored just seven times in that run, only five of them from open play - statistics that meant Hearts manager Craig Levein was in desperate need of a win to get the team moving in the right direction and to christen the new Tynecastle main stand with its first victory.

Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden had to depart during the first half through injury

Motherwell mustered something in pursuit of a point. Ryan Bowman headed over from good position then Kipre lashed one in the same direction after being gifted possession by Moore.

Hearts got jumpy, the way teams do when they haven't won for so long.

The visitors' threat was only fleeting, though. In Moult's absence, they lacked confidence and a killer touch. They saw plenty of the ball but to no avail.

This was not a performance to warm the soul of the Jambos, but it was, at least, an end to a bad run and something to build on.

Post-match reaction

Hearts manager Craig Levein: "It was okay in spells, but overall it was a bit of a scrap. Motherwell are difficult to play against, with their press and balls into the box constantly, but the boys managed to deal with that pretty well.

"We got a bit deeper, which gave them more possession, but we coped with the balls into the box pretty well. That's testament to how well we defended as a team.

"It was a good goal. We started pretty frantically but had good moments when we got the ball down and made good passes.

"That was one of the occasions and Kyle Lafferty showed good tenacity to win the ball back after losing it.

"I thought we deserved to win. I thought we were more of a threat than Motherwell and defended better."

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson: "There wasn't a lot in it at all. They've won a game with two slips - Cedric Kipre's slipped on the pitch and Carl McHugh's come in behind him and slipped.

"I believe Laff handled the ball in pulling it round in the middle of the goal, but I haven't seen it. He should never be scoring from that angle.

"There was nothing in the game, we dominated large bits of the second half without creating anything.

"Chris Cadden goes off with a hamstring strain and we lose Alex Fisher at half-time with concussion. Sometimes these things go against you.

"I'm not going to make excuses. We should have come out with a minimum of one point but without really creating lots of chances."