Saunders was given a start at right back and Reynolds moved to left back in the absence if Hammell, otherwise the line up was the same as played in Perth last week.
We had a fine start and had manufactured several chances inside the opening minutes. Reynolds crossed for a Hateley header, O'Brien joined in with another inviting ball from the left and a Forbes free kick allowed Hateley another header, this time on target. In ten minutes Craigan even got in on the act with an adventurous run deep into opposition territory.
The opener came after an inventive run from the impressive O'Brien. He slipped the ball to Sutton and after a controlling touch on his right he fired across Bell into the far corner with his left. It was a deserved lead and we kept up the pressure for the rest of the half.
Forbes scores the second
Killie had little opportunity to push forward and any threat was quickly cut out. The threat from their captain, Kyle, never materialised as his supply was snuffed out. Throughout the game we conceded no corners or free kicks which might have given them the chance to make the best of their height and strength in attack. All of the back four worked well.
It seemed that we would have to settle for a one goal advantage at the break until Old clipped O'Brien in the final minute. Forbes made no mistake from the spot as he racked up his fifth goal in five games.
Hutchison(top left) scores the third
The second half started with the visitors introducing Invincible but we countered with Humphrey replacing Murphy. Later Jennings came on for the tiring Hateley. The game was sewn up following a belter of a volley from Hutchison when he latched on to a headed clearance at the edge of the box. As the game slowed down O'Brien was given a standing ovation when Slane came on with fifteen minutes remaining.
The visitors got a goal in the dying minutes when we failed to cut out a far post ball. It fell t hamill and he managed a lob over Ruddy from close range.
It was an excellent performance and the manager joined the players on the pitch at the end to share the win with the fans. The new pitch seemed to hold up well, the sun shone and the Motherwell fans trooped home happy to have secured the first win of the new campaign. Let's see if we can keep up the good work at Pittodrie next week.