Motherwell 2-0 Hamilton Academical
- Published
Motherwell knocked local rivals Hamilton out of the Scottish Cup thanks to two first-half goals.
The home side were handed an advantage when Hamilton defender Scott McMann sent a pass back straight into his own net.
Craig Tanner doubled the lead from the penalty spot, after Curtis Main was brought down by Alex Gogic.
Hamilton struggled to create chances, with David Templeton coming closest with two long-range efforts.
Motherwell striker Nadir Ciftci made his debut against Hamilton after joining on loan from Celtic
Carl McHugh almost extended his side's lead late on, sending a looping header off the bar and then an overhead kick from the rebound over high over the goal.
Motherwell savoured reaching the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, but also ended a nine-match run without a victory.
The home side contained three debutants in Main, Tom Aldred and Nadir Ciftci, while Hamilton were without their creative fulcrum Ali Crawford and Greg Docherty, who is a signing target for Rangers.
The visitors did themselves no favours by gifting Motherwell an early lead courtesy of McMann's howler.
Lewis Ferguson, the son of former Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson, made his debut for Hamilton against Motherwell
The defender could only watch in agony as his over-hit back-pass from 20 yards flew past the helpless Gary Woods and into the bottom corner of his own net.
Charles Dunne almost doubled Motherwell's lead in the 15th minute when he met Tanner's corner with a powerful header, but the ball was cleared off the line.
Main, signed earlier this month after leaving Portsmouth, had his head in his hands in the 26th minute after scooping a half-volley over the bar from 12 yards with only the goalkeeper to beat.
But he made amends nine minutes later, winning a penalty after he was bundled over by Gogic, with Tanner making no mistake from the spot, sending Woods the wrong way to double the lead.
Hamilton midfielder Greg Docherty, a signing target for Rangers, was left out against Motherwell
In a rare foray up the park for Hamilton moments before the break, Templeton was unlucky not to pull one back when his powerful low strike from 25 yards was saved well by the Motherwell goalkeeper Trevor Carson. Soon after the break, Templeton also shot wide from distance.
McHugh's second-half header struck the bar as Motherwell chased a third but the hosts never looked troubled and saw out a quiet second half with ease.
Post-match reaction
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson: "It was a strange start to the game [with the own goal], but we'll take any goal that's coming. We thoroughly deserved the win, we won the battle first and then played some really good football. Ciftci and Main gave us that wee bit extra quality that we've lacked in recent weeks.
"Nadir Ciftci will get fitter and fitter, and we got a good 60 minutes out of him. Curtis is a big strong boy who will score goals, and Tanner was the best player on the pitch.
"It's a real positive performance for us."