Motherwell 1-0 Dundee: Super strike from Turnbull earns first home win

David Turnbull crashed in a wonderful strike to give Motherwell their first Premiership home win of the season.

The teenager, who scored his first senior goal in the midweek victory at St Mirren, broke the deadlock on 69 minutes with a screamer from 25 yards.

The Fir Park side were the dominant force for most of the game, with Ryan Bowman inches away with a header.

Dundee hit the frame of the goal early on but have now lost 11 of their 12 league games.

With neither side in good form coming into the match, a scrappy, tight game was perhaps to be expected.

So it transpired. After some early promise when Gael Bigirimana tested Jack Hamilton from distance and Dundee defender Darren O'Dea crashed a header off the bar, the game's quality dipped.

Endeavour was never lacking, but composure and precision in the final thirds often were.

But as the game threatened to peter out into a drab, goalless draw, young Turnbull produced the first moment of genuine brilliance to light it up.

Opting to shoot from distance might have looked like another example of poor decision-making in front of goal. But the midfielder caught it beautifully and it streaked past the diving Hamilton in the blink of an eye.

Dundee struggled to create anything subsequently to trouble home goalkeeper Trevor Carson as Jim McIntyre's wait for a win goes on.

The Dundee manager has lost all four games since taking over from Neil McCann without scoring a goal.

This display marked a big improvement for Dundee but when things are going against you, it can be difficult to get out of the rut.

If O'Dea's header had been an inch or two lower, this game could have ended differently.

As it was, despite defending stoutly - after conceding 12 goals in their previous three matches - they were beaten by a worldie and still languish at the bottom.

Motherwell ground this one out to record a second successive win and move eight points clear of their opponents.

It wasn't pretty but if Stephen Robinson's remit is - as he said yesterday - to remain in the league, this was an important step towards that.

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson: "It was a terrific strike. When David hits the ball, he hits it properly, so we were screaming out for him to shoot. He's a young man with a massive future, a lot of potential.

"I thought it was a thoroughly deserved victory. We dominated the game. We created three or four really good chances and we should have won by more."

Dundee manager Jim McIntyre: "That's more like how I want us to play. I thought we got into some great positions and the final ball was wasteful.

"In terms of application and organisation, it was far, far better and it took a wonder-strike to beat us. Credit to the team, they kept going and put Motherwell under a lot of pressure at the end."