David Turnbull’s comeback could not inspire Motherwell as they fell to a 2-1 defeat by St Mirren at Fir Park.
Turnbull came off the bench to make his first appearance since a Celtic medical unearthed a latent knee problem which required surgery and scuppered a £3million summer move.
Just like last week’s eight-goal thriller between the teams in the William Hill Scottish Cup, which St Mirren edged on penalties, there was a marked difference in Motherwell’s performance either side of half-time.
Having conceding four goals before the break last Tuesday, Stephen Robinson’s men completely dominated the opening period but only had Liam Donnelly’s penalty to show for their superiority.
Donnelly had been denied by Vaclav Hladky in last week’s penalty shoot-out but he gave the Saints keeper little chance as he found the corner of the net.
Hladky made a double save from Declan Gallagher’s header and Tony Watt’s follow-up and then denied the latter after the striker had run from his own half and created a shooting chance with some great skill.
Watt and Allan Campbell were off target following set-pieces, Hladky stopped Jermaine Hylton’s shot with his feet and then scrambled to catch Aarons’ free-kick as the on-loan Newcastle player threatened to score with a cross against the Czech for the second week running.
The visitors no doubt faced some stern half-time words from manager Jim Goodwin and the transformation was immediate. They took the game to Motherwell and Obika hit his 11th goal of the season from close range after Lee Hodson’s driven cross ultimately landed at his feet.
Mark Gillespie pushed a Durmus shot wide as the Buddies remained on top and Motherwell lost Mark O’Hara to injury, forcing a reshuffle of several players as forward Ross MacIver came on.
