THIS was a game that always seem destined to finish 0-0.

And to be honest, both Partick Thistle and Motherwell looked as if they would be lucky to even get that for the most part.

This was the second attempt to play this game, with a 5pm pitch inspection seeing referee Barry Cook decide that the Firhill pitch was up to the task ahead of what was a vital Ladbrokes Premiership meeting at the foot of the table.

If only the players upon its patchy surface were, too.

As dull games go, this turgid 90 minutes is well up there. After a frantic first 10 minutes, both teams failed to find any sort of rhythm as they scrapped their way through this sorry affair.

Most inside the ground probably would have been happy just to write this one off and toddle up the road, keen to banish any memory of it from their heads.

Instead, a 90th-minute intervention from Steven Lawless – and the thigh of Motherwell full-back Josh Law – delivered Thistle's first league win since December 19.

It sparked wild celebrations in the stands, more out of astonishment than anything else, as the home players gratefully welcomed three points that take them above their visitors and into eighth.

For Motherwell, it was another bittersweet tale for a team that has only beaten Cove Rangers this calendar year, and now find themselves just a point above that relegation play-off place.

The heavily-sanded pitch and the swirling wind certainly didn’t help matters. But, even taking that into consideration, there was very little offered up.

For Motherwell the best of the first half came early on when Marvin Johnson cut inside Gary Miller to fire the ball across goal. It came back to him and his rebound almost crept in before being cleared. The Well winger would also have a dubious penalty not given by referee Cook after a Sean Welsh challenge.

At the other end, Dan Seaborne thundered a header straight at Connor Ripley from a corner, while a Lawless snapshot from 20 yards flew harmlessly wide early on.

The interval brought hope of an improvement, and, if anything it got worse for the 2487 inside Firhill.

A roving run from Scott McDonald across the Jags box was eventually worked to Stephen Pearson to have a shot that was deflected wide, while Callum Booth almost caught out Ripley at the other end with a swerving swipe shot.

However, neither team looked like breaking the deadlock as this match ebbed away, instead the main talking point fell to Abdul Osman staying on the park after a rash lunge on Keith Lasley.

That was until Lawless decided to fire a half volley at goal on the stroke of 90 minutes, only for it to take a wicked deflection off Law to fly into the net.

It did trigger a response from Motherwell, who saw Stephen McManus have a heard cleared off the line by Gary Fraser and Lionel Ainsworth almost snatch a late equaliser with a driven shot back into the box.

It was too little, too late.