John Sutton scored late on as Motherwell maintained the pressure on Dundee Utd with a 2-1 win at St Johnstone.
Motherwell close to within a point of Terrors
John Sutton scored late on as Motherwell maintained the pressure on Dundee United with a 2-1 win at St Johnstone.
Well started positively and were rewarded when Jamie Murphy opened the scoring, but Steven Milne levelled matters before half-time.
Just when it looked like the points would be shared at McDiarmid Park, Sutton popped up with four minutes left to snatch the points.
The in-form visitors were straight on the front foot, Chris Humphrey tearing past Steven Anderson down the right and swinging in a decent cross towards Sutton in the first minute.
Although the former St Mirren striker was eased off the ball by Dave Mackay, the move signalled Motherwell and Sutton's early intent.
Humphreys was in sparkling form in the first 10 minutes, beating Anderson for pace on three occasions and supplying dangerous crosses into the box.
Superiority
And in the 12th minute Motherwell's superiority was rewarded when Murphy put his side ahead as he beat the offside trap, rounded keeper Graeme Smith - who had ill-advisedly rushed from his line - and slotted home at the second attempt after Graham Gartland had blocked his first effort.
St Johnstone almost hit straight back when Stephen Craigan was penalised for a push on the edge of his own box and visiting keeper John Ruddy had to handle Liam Craig's free-kick cleanly with Milne waiting to pounce on any mistakes.
The home side then twice came close to an equaliser in the 21st minute when Ruddy saved well from Kenny Deuchar. From the corner Michael Duberry fired wide from 10 yards out.
St Johnstone were threatening an equaliser and it was no great surprise when Motherwell's run of three games without conceding a goal came to an end in the 26th minute as Milne rolled the ball beyond Ruddy following a clever flick from Murray Davidson caught out Craigan.
McInnes made a substitution two minutes later when he brought Grainger on for Anderson, who may have picked up an injury but who had in any case endured a torrid time against Humphrey.
Milne almost scored a second just after the half-hour mark when a terrific block from Mark Reynolds fell into his path and his shot was deflected narrowly over the bar by Craigan.
Combined nicely
The half began with good crosses for both teams which deserved a better end product. First, Deuchar worked an opening down the right but saw Milne fail to connect with his square pass, then O'Brien and Murphy combined nicely on Motherwell's left but Sutton mis-timed his challenge for the latter's cross.
The visitors almost regained their lead 12 minutes into the second period when Murphy latched on to Keith Lasley's quickly taken free-kick and although his scuffed shot beat St Johnstone keeper Smith, Duberry raced back to hack the ball off his own line.
Brown's side were the more fluent at this stage without creating any clear-cut opportunities and in a bid to change the pattern of the game, Derek McInnes introduced former Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris in place of Davidson 20 minutes into the half.
Brown responded three minutes later by bringing Ross Forbes on at the expense of O'Brien while Lasley was replaced by Giles Coke.
Brown played final card with 10 minutes remaining when he brought on on-loan Everton striker Jutkiewicz for Murphy.
The changes helped to inject some urgency into the away side and Jutkiewicz's shot in the 85th minute was spilled by Smith with Sutton was on hand to tap home from three yards out.
McInnes threw on Filipe Morais for Craig immediately after the goal but it was all in vain for the home side as Jutkiewicz could afford to waste a terrific chance to make the game safe in injury time as Brown's side collected all three points.
