SPL wrap: Motherwell win at Hearts, Inverness held

Motherwell defeated Hearts and created breathing space in second place in the SPL, as Inverness played out a goalless draw at Ross County.

Motherwell defeated Hearts and created breathing space in second place in the SPL, as Inverness played out a goalless draw at Ross County.

A Michael Higdon strike and a Dylan McGowan own goal handed Motherwell an important 2-1 win at Hearts on Saturday.

With defending SPL champions and leaders Celtic busy in Scottish Cup action, Motherwell had the chance to close the gap and they got off to the best possible start.

English striker Higdon opened the scoring inside three minutes, his 20th strike of the season, before young Australian defender McGowan put the ball into his own net just five minutes later at Tynecastle Stadium.

John Sutton pulled a goal back for Hearts on the hour mark but it proved to be little more than a consolation as Motherwell held on for all three points.

Motherwell are now three points clear in second position after Inverness could only manage a 0-0 stalemate against Ross County.

The best opportunity of the match fell to Ross Draper, whose shot was cleared off the line by Inverness’ Rocco Quinn with 29 minutes played at Victoria Park.