St Mirren passed up a glorious chance to leap up to fourth in the Premiership table after being floored by Motherwell's rapid start at Fir Park.
The Steelmen raced into a two-goal lead thanks to some suspect Saints defending. First Kevin Van Veen capitalised on Richard Taylor's switch off to fire the hosts in front.
Then Max Johnston produced one of the few moments of quality on the night, beating Scott Tanser and chesting down a pass before sublimely finding the top corner from an acute angle.