Motherwell suffered a big blow to their survival hopes with defeat at home to Dundee.
A Mark O’Hara double and Marcus Haber strike cancelled out Louis Moult and Chris Cadden’s consolations as Well dropped down to 11th in the Premiership.
A lot has changed since the last time the two sides met two months ago after Dee demolished the Steelmen 5-1.
Both managers have changed, with Stephen Robinson steadying the ship at Fir Park and Neil McCann taking charge of his first game since Paul Hartley’s departure.
The interim boss made three changes with Kevin Gomis, Nick Ross and Mark O’Hara replacing Daniel Higgins, Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Cammy Kerr.
The Steelmen only made one change from the team which beat Inverness 4-2 with Stephen Pearson switched out for captain Keith Lasley.
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The first half hour of the game dragged on with neither side having a sniff of an effort.
Moult created the first real chance after chesting down Elliott Frear’s delivery but he volleyed straight at Scott Bain in the Dundee goal.
A Chris Cadden cross five minutes before half time swerved goalwards and produced a top save from Bain but that was all Well could create.
But Dee scored with their first chance of the opening 45 as Marcus Haber forced Craig Samson to spill the ball to the waiting O’Hara who slammed the ball in.
They picked up right where they left off from by doubling their lead three minutes into the second half.
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A dangerous Kevin Holt delivery found Haber at the front post as he stabbed home and sent the 1259 travelling Dundee fans wild.
But less than two minutes later, Well were right back in it as Moult was left unmarked at the back post and rifled the ball past Bain to halve Dundee’s lead.
Just before the hour mark Dundee restored their two goal lead through a bit of good fortune as O’Hara’s diving header deflected in past Samson.
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The Steelmen tried to find a way back into the game as Frear forced a superb save from Bain as he blasted the ball goalward from 10 yards out.
There was controversy going into the last 15 minutes as Ben Heneghan’s header looked to have crossed the line from a Lionel Ainsworth cross but assistant Anthony Cooper failed to raise the flag. A replay of the footage showed Motherwell were on the wrong end of a poor decision.
However, Stephen Robinson’s men kept going and pulled one back with just under 10 minutes to go as Cadden slid in to knock in Ainsworth’s low ball across goal.
It set up a fast and furious last 10 minutes with Well throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Dundee but they couldn’t find a way through.
The defeat leaves the Steelmen in the relegation play-off spot and in danger of another end-of-season showdown.
Match stats
MOTHERWELL: Samson, Hammell, Heneghan, McHugh, Moult, Bowman (Ainsworth 59), Cadden, Lasley (Gordon 70) , Frear, Campbell, McDonald (Clay 74)
Goals: Moult 50, Cadden 80
Booked: McHugh
DUNDEE: Bain, Holt, Vincent, O’Dea, Hateley, O’Hara (Higgins 81), Ross (El Bakhtaoui 85), McGowan, Haber, Wighton (Williams 64), Gomis
Goals:O’Hara 45, 56, Haber 49
Booked: Gomis, Haber
Referee: Steven MacLean
Attendance: 4919 with 1259 Dundee fans.