The floodwaters have abated, dry land has reappeared and, while Noah’s nowhere to be seen, Mark McGhee, the Motherwell manager, can finally breath a sigh of relief. Three weeks had passed since Fir Park was last deemed playable, however, with temporary lodgers Gretna evicted, the saturated playing surface has been afforded a little respite. In certain areas it looked more beach than bowling green, but the sand-covered pitch held up long enough for Motherwell to complete their first home fixture in more than a month and end a damp run of five matches without victory.

The players’ elation at being back on home soil was clear. Despite their recent slump, McGhee’s side have won much praise this season for their trademark brand of blitzkrieg football; meticulously well-organised and always primed to strike early at ferocious speed. Motherwell in full flow are an impressive sight and, within just seconds of kick-off against injury-stricken Hibernian on Saturday, the dye was cast. By the time five minutes had roared past, the hosts could have been three goals in front, but, as it was, they were forced to settle for just one.

Paul Quinn, the Motherwell captain, sprayed a diagonal pass from just inside the Hibernian half to the edge of their penalty box that outfoxed Martin Canning, the right back, and left David Clarkson with only the goalkeeper to beat. Promptly, he did so, curling the ball into the bottom corner of the net from 15 yards to give his side what proved to be an unassailable lead. Hibernian, shorn of four first-team players – most notably Steven Fletcher, the top scorer, injured during his international debut in Scotland’s 1-1 draw with Croatia – failed to muster a response, coming closest to equalising when Dean Shiels’ well-executed volley struck the crossbar midway through the first half.

In many ways, Motherwell’s performance in the league in the current campaign defies belief. This is a side, after all, that avoided relegation last season by just six points, but who now share third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with Dundee United and have ambitions towards European football next term. As Quinn reiterated after the match, the Fir Park club have already surpassed the expectations of both their fans and their peers, however, they continue to demand more of themselves.

“We set very high standards, nobody else expects us to be performing at the level we have done this season,” the 21-year-old captain said. “At this club, we go into every game looking to win. I think most teams in the league will have a little bit of a blip and perhaps that’s what happened to us in the past few games. But, in the build-up to this one, we worked hard all week and were determined to take all three points. We changed our training schedule, we wanted to be sharp and to come out of the blocks quickly and that’s what happened. At the start of the season, we were getting our success from starting games at a high tempo. I think we got back to that against Hibernian. Hopefully, we can now finish the season strongly.”

For the visitors, meanwhile, Saturday’s result was a shuddering blow to their challenge for third position and a place in next season’s Uefa Cup. Mixu Paatelainen, the Easter Road manager, defiantly claimed afterwards that he was not concerned by his side’s final position within the top six, providing their performance level meets his demands. “We want to win every match we play, it’s not a matter of aiming to finish third, fourth or fifth,” the former Finland international, said, adding: “On our day, we can beat Motherwell and we know that.”

Motherwell (4-4-2): G Smith 7 – C Quinn 8, M Reynolds 7, S Craigan 6, S Lappin 7 – M Fitzpatrick 6, R Malcolm 6, K Lasley 7 (sub: S McGarry, 87min), S Hughes 6 – C Clarkson 9 (sub: R McCormack, 72, 6), C Porter 7. Substitutes not used: L Daniels, B McLean, D Smith, J Murphy, M Archdeacon. Booked: Malcolm, Fitzpatrick.

Hibernian (4-4-2): A McNeil 5 – C Hogg 6, R Jones 5, M Canning 6, P Hanlon 6 – I Murray 5, J Rankin 5 (sub: A Benjelloun, 45 4), F Morais 5 (sub: C Donaldson, 70 6), M Zemmama 6 – D Shiels 6, C Nish 6. Substitutes not used: D Grof, K McCann, L Stevenson, R Chisholm, R Campbell.