Motherwell 4 Livingston 1: Nicholson and Bair bury Lions and send them to Championship

A sensational Sam Nicholson strike and a Theo Bair double helped Motherwell boost their bid to finish seventh in the Premiership - and relegated Livingston in the process.

Nicholson's 30-yard thunderbolt in first-half stoppage time lit up Fir Park either side of Bair's brilliant brace, one an emphatic penalty and the other a fine header, ensured the writing was on the wall for the visitors after 68 minutes. Dan Casey added a fourth before substitute Joel Nouble managed a consolation on what proved to be a dark day for the Lions.

The West Lothian side haven't won in North Lanarkshire since 2002 and they hoodoo continued here on yet another dismal day at the office for David Martindale's men, who now know for sure they will be playing Championship football next season.

For Motherwell, the win leaves them just two points behind seventh place Hibs in the battle to finish best of the bottom six, heading into the final three games of the campaign.

The Steelmen - who went into the game without a win in their last four home matches - made two changes from last week's defeat at Aberdeen. Davor Zdravkovski and the suspended Jack Vale dropped out, so in came Andy Halliday and Sam Nicholson. For the Lions, they named the same side that enjoyed a 2-0 win over Ross County the previous week, while striker Joel Nouble was back on the bench.

Inside the second minute the hosts gave Livingston an early warning when a neat move sent Nicholson darting into the box and he fired into the side netting from six-yards.

Four minutes later, Livi star Bruce Anderson got in behind Paul McGinn and raced in on goal, only for the Motherwell defender to make up his ground and deflect the striker's effort behind for a corner, which came to nothing.

Sean