Andy Halliday scores at Easter RoadSNS

Andy Halliday's late winner earned just a third Motherwell victory in their last 14 league visits to Hibernian

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

Andy Halliday's late Scottish Premiership winner continued Motherwell's stunning start to the season as Hibernian head coach David Gray rued his side's wastefulness and branded his 10-man side "unprofessional".

After a goalless first period, during which Gray's men should have put themselves ahead at Easter Road, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos made the hosts pay for their profligacy by opening his Well account with a clinical near-post finish.

That goal sparked a manic second half as an inexplicable Stephen O'Donnell error then allowed Junior Hoilett to drive forward and curl in an equaliser just three minutes later.

But the Leith side should have been out of sight before they even needed to find a leveller - and they were then reduced to 10 when Nectar Triantis was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on Tony Watt.

That drove Stuart Kettlewell's men on to find a winner, which they got when Kofi Balmer's long throw was met on the volley at close range by former Hearts midfielder Halliday, who celebrated wildly in front of the away support.

"It's very difficult to take," Gray told BBC Scotland. "It's clear, we can't dominate as much as we did and create the chances we did and not win the game.

"You can't not take those chances at this level. The set pieces in the second half - unprofessional. You need to see it through and defend your goal."

The away side, who remain fourth and move level on points with third-placed Rangers, have goalkeeper Aston Oxborough to thank for playing an integral role in earning a fifth win in six games.

Meanwhile, with just one victory from seven league matches, Hibs fans will remain unconvinced by their team amid a poor start to the campaign.

Oxborough the hero again for resilient Well

With a League Cup semi-final to come next month in addition to their fine start in the Premiership, Well fans could not have dreamt of a better introduction to the season.

Kettlewell's men continue to show a knack of grabbing late goals, which stretches back to last term and highlights the strong mentality of his well-drilled side.

The Lanarkshire club are also benefitting from being patient with their manager, when many clubs might have pulled the trigger during a long winless run last year.

But with each passing week, it is more a head-scratcher that Kettlewell refused to bring Oxborough into the side when Liam Kelly was underperforming last season.

The goalkeeper pulled off a string of stunning stops at Easter Road, including an incredible double save to deny Mykola Kuharevich, who then watched Lennon Miller clear his header off the line from the following corner.

He also had to be sharp to tip Kwon Hyeok-kyu's strike round the post and was quick off his line to thwart former Well winger Chris Cadden in the second half.

And at the other end, Stamatelopoulos showed why the Fir Park club were happy to push the boat out and spend a reported six-figure sum to sign the Australia striker, whose fierce near-post opener sparked a wild final half hour.

Profligacy & soft defending continue to plague Hibs

Wastefulness was the theme of Hibs' defeat at Ibrox last weekend, but this loss will sting more for Gray given the opposition.

In the end, Triantis' dismissal did not help, but golden chances for Kuharevich and Cadden should have had Hibs at least two up by the time Miller's quick free-kick sent Stamatelopoulos through to net at the other end.

Although it came from O'Donnell’s hesitancy, Hibs finally got the goal their attacking play merited when Hoilett levelled, but continued defensive frailty means one goal is rarely enough for this team to get a result.

Gray's defence failed to deal with aerial balls into their box all afternoon, particularly from Balmer’s long throws.

A sitter from Zach Robinson and Moses Ebiye's disallowed goal were warnings, but they did not heed them as Halliday's winner came from a similar situation.

With a trip to Tannadice and the first Edinburgh derby of the season to come after the upcoming international break, Gray will have to address the ongoing issues in both boxes to avoid this season spiralling out of control.

What they said

Gray laments 'unprofessional' 10-man Hibs after defeat to Motherwell

Hibernian head coach David Gray: "The reaction was good, but when you're on a yellow card, you can't go to ground and give the referee a decision to make.

"Credit to their goalkeeper, I think he was their man of the match."

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "We didn't show what we can be as a team in the first half. I thought we addressed that right at the start of the second half.

"We then started to grow in confidence and I need to commend my goalkeeper again. We rallied round Stephen O'Donnell after his error and we get what is a brilliant victory for us."

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