St Johnstone will go into the World Cup break in sixth place after their fifth game without defeat.
Drey Wright’s opener from close range was cancelled out by a Blair Spittal deflected free-kick on the stroke of half-time.
Saints were a weary team by the end of the contest but Callum Davidson will be delighted that a poor start to the campaign is now full of top six possibilities.
Talking points
Had Saints got a second goal when they were on top, this would have been the perfect way to round off a strong start to the season.
But in the second half, having been deflated by an unlucky equaliser, they looked like a side playing their third game in six days.
It would be too much to say Saints were hanging on but Motherwell were certainly pushing harder for the winner.
With the way the match panned out, this was a decent result and point.
Player ratings
Matthews 7, Wright 8, McGowan 7, Gordon 7, Considine 7, Montgomery 7 (Phillips 3), (Brown 4), Hallberg 6, Carey 6, Wotherspoon 7 (McLennan 4), Clark 7 (Bair 3), May 7 (Crawford 4).
Saints’ star man
Hopefully this performance has sealed David Wotherspoon’s World Cup place.
He wasn’t holding back, that’s for sure, and for the 76 minutes the Canadian international was on the pitch he reaffirmed his class.
The skill to leave a Motherwell defender looking foolish in the box was the spark for the opening goal.
Wotherspoon’s passing was on point and he also made an important penalty box intervention when a Louis Moult cross was begging to be finished off at the back post.
Manager under the microscope
It was another attacking team selection from Davidson, with Stevie May coming back into the starting line-up and Adam Montgomery being preferred to James Brown.
He brought his substitutes on at the right time but none of them were able to come up with a game-changing moment.
Man in the middle
Nick Walsh nearly came up with a Motherwell assist midway through the half when he got in the way of Graham Carey, allowing the visitors an unexpected opportunity to burst forward out of midfield.
The referee would have been a relieved man that at the end of that phase of play, Moult was unable to beat Remi Matthews at his near post.
The award of a free-kick on the edge of the box, from which Motherwell, equalised in first half injury time appeared to be the correct decision but it looked like there could have been a handball before the ball got to Sean Goss.
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