Jamie Murphy, who came on after Lukas Jutikiewicz was stretchered off, fired home after a 56th-minute free-kick to give Motherwell a deserved lead. John Sutton netted on the break to seal Motherwell's first home win since October and further boost Brown's chances of landing the manager's position until the end of the season. Well have now scored five goals without reply in Brown's two SPL games in total charge and the team bounced back well from Monday's Scottish Cup exit at Inverness to consolidate their position in the top six. The first half was not exactly thrilling entertainment, not helped by the state of pitch despite it being unused since Boxing Day. But Motherwell coped far better with the barren patches and tyre marks and showed better penetration in the second-half. Motherwell were the sharper team in the opening stages and got the ball into the box several times, but a clear chance would not fall for frontmen Jutkiewicz and Sutton, and skipper Stephen Craigan was twice denied clean headers from corners. Sutton lifted the sparse crowd in the 18th minute when he cracked a first-time left-footed volley from 25 yards off the junction of bar and post. Saints threatened for the first time moments later when Craigan's header out from an Andy Dorman cross fell for Hugh Murray 15 yards out, but he sliced wide under pressure. Jutkiewicz was carried off with a gash on his thigh, which later required 12 stitches, after Sutton's studs caught him when they landed after an aerial challenge. Brown's team continued to dominate possession and territory but they struggled to carve out an opening and referee Dougie McDonald waved away their penalty appeals when Keith Lasley stumbled after Chris Innes appeared to tug his shirt. Lasley failed to get hold of a half-chance inside the first minute of the second period while Billy Mehmet was off target with a header from a Steven Robb cross. An Innes challenge literally put Murphy in the stand, the substitute needing all his agility to hold on to a gate and stop himself crashing on to the concourse. He soon recovered and was played through by Lasley before flashing a 22-yard shot past the far post. But the Scotland Under-21 international was soon on target with his left foot to give Motherwell the lead. Murphy won a free-kick on the halfway line after a foul by Robb and reacted quickly when Sutton headed down Tom Hateley's delivery to volley high into the net from eight yards. Gallacher easily saved a weak Forbes free-kick and John Ruddy made his first save just after the hour mark when he got down well to hold Mehmet's volley from the edge of the box at the second attempt. Murphy had another chance on the counter attack when Jim O'Brien's diagonal ball allowed him to run at John Potter but Gallacher pushed past his 20-yard shot. St Mirren brought on Stephen O'Donnell and young striker Conor Ramsay just as they were threatening a comeback but Sutton finished the contest in the 76th minute. Lasley beat the offside trap to run on to O'Brien's pass and fed Sutton on the edge of the box, and the former St Mirren striker turned and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner. Substitute Chris Humphrey failed to find a team-mate on another promising break, his driven cross just evading Murphy, and the Lanarkshire side comfortably held on with Mehmet's off-target diving header the only time St Mirren threatened. Humphrey did find a claret-and-amber shirt on a last-minute counter-attack but Giles Coke blazed over after a bursting run.
