Both sides tried to play passing football but despite the good intentions the final pass was often wayward. There was only one chance of note in the early stages and that was when Calum Elliot dragged a shot wide when he may have been better squaring the ball to McDonald. 
Falkirk were on top in terms of possession for a short period but we had Latapy well marked and that prevented them from making any real chances. They did get behind us once or twice but Smith was never threatened in goal.
We turned the heat up a little and McDonald battled well in the box before forcing a good save from Higgins. Foran then blazed over a spectacular volley attempt and Richie was alert enough to take a clever short corner but the Falkirk defence recovered to crowd us out in the box. McDonald had a decent run and shot over the bar before the half time whistle while the only thing Falkirk could offer was a bobbling ball which Fitzpatrick headed clear of Moutinho. He had come on for Paterson who had presumably picked up a knock.
Smith clears the danger
The start of the second half belonged to Motherwell with the first chance falling to McBride who thumped a difficult volley over the bar after a poor clearance. Lasley almost finished a sweet passing move but his shot was blocked and from the resultant corner Reynolds fired just wide. The goal was coming though and it was no surprise when we took the lead on the hour mark. This time Foran had a shot saved from a corner but Scott McDonald was on hand to score a simple finish.
As would be expected Falkirk came back into things in search of an equaliser but they still struggled to create chances. A header across goal was cleared and Smith had to react sharply to prevent another headed opportunity. The game took a decisive turn in our favour when Steven Thomson lashed out with an arm at Calum Elliot and was shown a red card. From that point on all we had to do was retain our composure and see the game out.
Falkirk launched a series of high balls into our box but we dealt with them comfortably to record our first win. From this showing it is clear we can compete with some SPL teams but there are still problems to be worked on. The right side of our team is absolutely woeful at present and against a better defence we will struggle to create chances.
Elliot made a reasonable debut and Keith Lasley once again dominated the midfield. He didn't do anything flashy but he made his passes and most importantly made sure Latapy could not hurt us. A good days work for everyone!