THE match that nobody was talking about almost had a result to equal the occasion.

With Celtic beating Barcelona, Hearts imploding, and Billy Stark announcing his first Scotland squad, there were few eyes trained on Fir Park last night for this rearranged Clydesdale Bank Premier League fixture.

With just six minutes remaining it looked as if the scoreline would be as low-key as the coverage but United would have the final say. Keith Watson swung in a cross from wide on the right and Johnny Russell was able to loop a header over Darren Randolph for the only goal of the game.

It was rough on Motherwell, who were the better side for large swathes of the contest, although, as Barcelona dis-covered just a few miles down the road, garnering the majority of possession doesn't guarantee you success.

The result continues United's mini-revival as they claimed a second successive away victory with a hard-fought home draw with Celtic sandwiched in between. It lifts Peter Houston's side to just below their opponents in the table, albeit it level on points and goal difference and having played a game fewer.

"The heady heights of seventh," said Houston with a smile as he savoured the victory. "It's one bit of quality that's won us the game. It's not the first time Johnny's scored a goal like that. That shows great quality."

The lack of goals suggests a humdrum affair but it was far from it. Both sides created chances in a free-flowing game, the only pity was that there were not more there to see it.

On a day when the precarious nature of Scottish football was once more laid bare, only 3941 battled through the miserable conditions to get to Fir Park. With assorted Champions League distractions being shown on television, Motherwell must have cursed their luck that the original match last month was called off through no fault of their own.

Still, those who did venture out were treated to an entertaining, open game of football, as play pulsed from end to end. Only some assured goalkeeping and fluffed finishing kept the scoreline down, the only surprise was that it took until the 84th minute for goal of the game to arrive.

Motherwell had most of the ball, in the first half especially, and used it well. Jamie Murphy had scored early in the victory over St Johnstone and should have notched at least once to embroider an otherwise impressive perfor-mance. He found in Radoslaw Cierzniak, however, a new nemesis, as the United keeper somehow repelled at least four goalbound attempts.

One save, following Michael Higdon's lay-off, was particularly eye-catching. It was Henrik Ojamaaa, though, who had Motherwell's best chance of the first half, tearing along the perimeter of the penalty box before unleashing a shot that smacked against the bar.

For once, Cierzniak looked beaten. United spent most of the game in retreat but were not without chances of their own. Jon Daly climbed highest to meet Watson's cross but could only head wide, while Randolph, the Motherwell keeper, reacted smartly to parry a Gavin Gunning free- kick then sprung low to keep out the rebound from Stuart Armstrong. On this sort of form his appearance in the latest Republic of Ireland squad seems more than merited.

The second-half began as the first ended for Motherwell with Ojamaa again striking the frame of the goal. Keith Lasley could have shot but chose to play in the Estonian whose shot from a tight angle beat Cierzniak only to strike the outside of a post.

United, though, were showing greater ambition after the break and were finally seeing more of the ball in Motherwell's half. The busy Armstrong was always a threat and curled a decent effort just wide of goal while Russell thought his stabbed effort had crossed the line before being hacked clear. Referee Alan Muir, however, was not convinced and play continued.

It was anyone's game by this point with both sides playing with the sort of freedom rarely seen at this level. Higdon was next to threaten for Motherwell but failed to get a clean connection on Chris Humphrey's cross and the chance was wasted. Minutes later and Humphrey, from a similar position, elected to shoot only to put his effort wide. Fir Park groaned in frustration and it would get worse when Russell's late header sealed a precious away win for the Taysiders. "We'll play a lot worse than that and win," said Stuart McCall, the Motherwell manager. "We're disappointed with the result but not the performance."