Lawrence Shankland was the hero as 10-man Hearts squeezed past Motherwell at Tynecastle.
Andy Halliday had helped himself to a goal either side of half-time, despite Jorge Grant being shown a straight red card in 38 minutes.
But Louis Moult earned and scored a penalty on the hour-mark and Spittal smashed in Stuart McKinstry's cut-back to draw Motherwell level with 11 minutes left.
