MANY more twists and turns lie ahead for the three contenders immersed in an intriguing race for third place, but as things stand right now it is impossible to predict a winner.
Motherwell's thoroughly-deserved victory over Hibernian at Fir Park, coupled with Dundee United's defeat at Tynecastle, means just two points separate the teams pursuing a Uefa Cup place.
Motherwell were the side on the slide before Saturday's
action got underway, which just goes to show how quickly things can change.
This was a match Motherwell needed to win more than Hibs in order to reignite their faltering challenge. They have back-to-back matches against Celtic coming up and began this, their first home fixture in five weeks, on the back of a poor run of results.
After getting their season off to a flying start, the Lanarkshire team lost momentum in February and March, partly due to a sequence of postponements at their home ground, and Mark McGhee's team were in danger of being left behind by Hibs and Dundee United.
The warning signs were clear: consecutive defeats at Easter Road and Tannadice, two points from five matches and three games in a row without a goal.
McGhee knew something needed to be done to arrest the decline, and although his decision to leave Ross McCormack out of the starting line-up for the first time since September and field two, rather than three, strikers raised a few eyebrows, he was vindicated not only by the result but by a diligent, determined performance from his team.
Bob Malcolm was deployed in a midfield holding role in a new-look 4-4-2 formation that made Motherwell more robust, and David Clarkson's goal with just two minutes and 20 seconds on the clock was just the start they needed.
"We wanted to be sharp and come out of the blocks, and it certainly showed," said Motherwell captain Paul Quinn, who believes a change to the first-team training schedule has made a difference. "At the start of the season that's where we were getting our success, we were blowing teams away. Even though we didn't quite blow Hibs away, the marker was set from the off."
Quinn was back in the team after being told that he doesn't need surgery on a troublesome hip injury and that proper rest and recuperation should enable him to play on for the rest of the season.
His return at right-back not only strengthened Motherwell's back four, an area of the team that had given McGhee slight cause for concern during their defeat the week before at Tannadice, but restored an attacking dimension that had been missing down the right flank in his absence.
Although Quinn was guilty of missing the game's best chance to score in the tenth minute when, unchallenged six yards from goal, he contrived to scoop the ball over the bar with his left foot, it was his pass that set up Clarkson for the game's only goal.
Martin Canning, the Hibs right-back, got caught on the wrong side of his man on the corner of the penalty area as Clarkson cut inside, held off the defender and used precision instead of power to beautifully stroke the ball low past Hibs goalkeeper Andy McNeil into the far corner of the net.
McNeil was called into the Hibs team to replace Yves Makalambay, who was injured on international duty with Belgium Under-21s.
Steven Fletcher, who injured his chest during his Scotland debut against Croatia last week, was the other notable absentee, but Hibs created so little going forward that even he would have made little difference in a performance that must have disappointed the travelling fans.
The visitors created only two opportunities of note all game, Dean Shiels hitting the crossbar from the edge of the box and substitute Clayton Donaldson having a powerful right-shot shot well saved by Graeme Smith in the 83rd minute.
Other than that, it was a lame performance summed up by Colin Nish's comical attempt midway through the second period to stick his head on a cross which was no more than an inch off the ground.
"We need more effort, sharpness and willingness," said Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen, who fell out with McGhee in the first half. We've got loads of ability in our dressing room, but we need to have the drive to get hold of the ball in order to make use of that ability.
"We want to win every game we take part in, but they worked and dominated from early doors and I was unhappy with our sharpness in the head.
"Motherwell moved earlier, passed sharper, were first to the ball and got the goal, although the goal they scored was a very, very bad mistake from us."
McGhee was angered by Paatelainen calling for Motherwell players to be booked, and the Fir Park manager was reprimanded by the referee for directing his complaint towards the Hibs bench.
Once the dust had settled, it was Motherwell who adapted better on a heavily-sanded pitch that held up reasonably well despite the wet and windy conditions.
The emergency renovation carried out on the playing surface was more urgent than the repair work McGhee needed to do on his team, but both were equally effective.
Now it's Paatelainen's turn to patch things up.
The full article contains 911 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
