Well fight back for Dons win

Francis Jeffers netted on his first start for Motherwell as the Lanarkshire side put a huge dent in former manager Craig Brown's hopes of leading Aberdeen into the top six of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with a 2-1 win.

Sone Aluko gave Aberdeen an early lead but Motherwell fought back quickly and the impressive Jeffers headed a 14th-minute equaliser.

And the visitors triumphed in a bad-tempered second half, which saw home skipper Paul Hartley sent off for lashing out at Keith Lasley, when Jamie Murphy punished some slack defending.

The small contingent of Motherwell fans were probably wishing they had stayed at home after two minutes when Aluko collected Steven Smith's cross and flicked the ball over Stephen Craigan's head before dispatching the ball in off the far post.

But Motherwell twice forced Jamie Langfield into saves before the 10-minute mark with the Aberdeen goalkeeper tipping over Ross Forbes' curling free-kick and beating away Murphy's powerful long-range strike.

And Langfield was helpless when Jeffers glanced a header into the top corner from 14 yards following Craigan's driven cross.

Motherwell were moving the ball around impressively and both John Sutton and Jeffers got on the end of Tom Hateley crosses but were put under just enough pressure to negate their efforts.

Aluko had a clear sight of goal but fired against a defender and a previously mild-tempered game boiled over 10 minutes into the second half.

Lasley sparked a mass rumpus when he led with his elbow in an aerial challenge with Hartley, who responded by booting the Motherwell midfielder in the chest. Steven McLean showed a red card to Hartley and yellows to Lasley, Langfield and Craigan.

The winner came in the 71st minute when Murphy burst on to Zander Diamond's misplaced header and held off Nikola Vujadinovic before finding the far corner from just inside the box.