The main Stand at Fir Park, as regulars know, seems to be part of the polar ice cap, regardless of the season. Whether it is August or May, the chill in a part of Lanarkshire where the sun never shines ensures that it always feels like December. Not any more.

A warm front swept through the place at 5pm on Saturday afternoon as the Motherwell fans celebrated the prospect of ending their 13-year exile from Europe. It was so sultry that it felt like Malaysia, not Motherwell. So it was easy to excuse the fan who whipped off his replica shirt, with the name O’Donnell and No 10 on the back, and lifted it to the heavens as if offering a prayer of thanks.

Phil O’Donnell, sadly, is no longer with us. However, he is certainly not forgotten, either in the hearts of his supporters or colleagues. Motherwell’s captain may have died out on that Fir Park surface on December 29 of a heart attack, but Mark McGhee’s team ensured that O’Donnell’s spirit never left the place.

The final whistle brought an explosion of noise from almost 8,000 Motherwell fans as they embraced the crucial success against Aberdeen that allows the club to dream of being in the Uefa Cup next season. It was almost cathartic. The bedlam was only outdone by the thunder and that shook the ground 20 minutes after full-time, as lightning forced McGhee to flee the pitch as he conducted a radio interview.

The rain that fell after that was of almost biblical proportions and flooded the inside of the main stand. Motherwell’s fans and players do not need any glib metaphors. They have witnessed the worst event of any lifetime, never mind mere football, when O’Donnell collapsed and died in front of them almost five months ago. Celebration of any kind almost seemed inappropriate until Saturday.

The day began with a minute’s applause for two other former Motherwell players who died recently, Matt Thomson and Willie Aitken, but there was an unleashing of pent-up emotion after Chris Porter’s late winner kept the third-placed side in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League in pursuit of their European dream.

Motherwell have clung on to pole position in the race for the Uefa Cup since O’Donnell’s death and McGhee was full of admiration. “The lads deserve a lot of credit,” the manager said. “They are the ones who are out there, and particularly, postChristmas, they have had to deal with a lot and they have helped each other.

“They have got around each other and have shown a tremendous spirit. There are boys in there who remain quite disturbed and emotional by events at Christmas, and they are still managing to produce performances and win points.

“I was mentally prepared for a draw so I am pleased to have won. This is up there with anything I have achieved as a manager, considering the starting point we had when I came last summer after finishing 11th. It’s not a miracle. The boys are good enough and they deserve to be third. We’ve beaten Aberdeen three times this season, and beaten Hibernian and Celtic.”

On the weekend that Aberdeen celebrated the 25th anniversary of the famous Cup Winners’ Cup triumph, a side in which McGhee played, the Motherwell manager showed that some of Sir Alex Ferguson’s timely decision-making has rubbed off on him. In Gothenburg in May 1983, it was McGhee who crossed for substitute John Hewitt to head the winner against Real Madrid. Here, it was Darren Smith who came off Motherwell’s bench to break the deadlock.

The youngster repaid McGhee’s faith by putting Motherwell in front in the 61st minute after Stephen Hughes’s fine cross was knocked down by Porter, and Smith steered his shot past Jamie Langfield, the goalkeeper. Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, then matched that fortune as Sone Aluko scored within three minutes of coming to restore parity in the 68th minute with a searing volley.

The turning point came five minutes later, as Barry Nicholson stabbed the ball towards goal at the back post. It appeared to be over the line before Graeme Smith, the goalkeeper, clawed it back. Television evidence supported that case, but the linesman failed to agree and Aberdeen – who saw Chris Maguire hit the bar in stoppage time with a free kick – were left to rue a costly decision once Motherwell punished them with a counter-attack in the 82nd minute that saw Porter finish off Hughes’s unselfish lay-off.

“At the time I thought it was in,” Nicholson said. “Their goalkeeper clawed it out but television shows it was in. It is another refereeing decision that has cost us. The goal should have stood. That would have given us a 2-1 lead and I think we would have won the game. As it was, we had to keep chasing a winner and got caught on the counter-attack. The decision swung the game in their favour.

“It is hard for us to take and we are disappointed that our European chase is now over. I am not going to criticise the referee because it’s a tough job but we have lost valuable points recently. Maybe we should bring in goalline technology now. We cannot stop and start the game for every decision but certainly to see if a ball has crossed the line.”

Calderwood’s anger at the decision took a long while to subside. “The second half was a wonderful advert for Scottish football,” the Aberdeen manager said. “Good luck to Motherwell, they have had a great season and I hope they enjoy it if they get into Europe. They are in a fabulous position.”

Motherwell (4-4-2): G Smith 7 – B McLean 8, S Craigan 7, M Reynolds 7, S Hammell 7 – S Hughes 7, R Malcolm 6, S McGarry 7 (sub: R McCormack, 67min; sub: S Lappin, 85), M Fitzpatrick 6 (sub: D Smith, 46 7) – C Porter 6, D Clarkson 7. Substitutes not used: L Daniels, K Lasley, J Murphy, S Meechan. Booked: Smith.

Aberdeen (4-4-2): J Langfield 7 – A Maybury 6, A Considine 5 (sub: D Bus, 17 7), S Severin 5, R Foster 5 – J Walker 7 (sub: S Aluko, 65 6), B Nicholson 7, K Touzani 6, S Duff 5 – L Miller 4, D Mackie 4 (sub: C Maguire, 81).Substitutes not used: D Soutar, S Lovell, J De Visscher, S Ross. Booked: Touzani.

Referee C Thomson
Attendance 8,574