MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson hailed the impact of January signing Curtis Main after the striker became the first player to score against Hearts in 831 minutes of football.
Hearts were seconds away from a 1-0 Ladbrokes Premiership victory and a ninth consecutive clean sheet but Main headed over the line following Craig Tanner's free-kick in the sixth minute of stoppage-time.
The former Middlesbrough and Portsmouth striker has now scored twice in his first three matches in Scottish football and also won a penalty on his debut against Hamilton.
The 25-year-old also had a goal disallowed for offside at Tynecastle and came close with a header and showed good movement to run on to Allan Campbell's pass, although he made a mess of the finish.
Main is showing signs of working well with fellow newcomer Nadir Ciftci as Motherwell maintained their unbeaten record in 2018 with the help of another strong performance at the back from another new signing, Tom Aldred.
Robinson said: "The new signings have given us a big lift. Curtis Main deserves a mention, he was absolutely superb. He worked his socks off.
"He was playing against a back three that don't concede goals, with international experience, and I thought he gave them a really hard time.
"He gave us a real threat all day. We are only seeing the start of him, he will get better and better."
Hearts manager Craig Levein bemoaned his side's concession of the free-kick that led to Motherwell scrambling an equaliser but he was more frustrated by Willie Collum's performance.
The referee missed what looked a handball by Cedric Kipre inside the box before waving away another strong penalty claim when Aldred brought down Ross Callachan.
But there were positives for Hearts, with teenagers Anthony McDonald and Andy Irving impressing in midfield and new signing Demetri Mitchell twice coming close with excellent efforts from the left-back position.
Levein said: "Anthony in flashes was excellent. Andy did reasonably well against Hamilton and probably slightly better again.
"I thought the old boys did well as well. We had a lot of defending of high balls and corners and free-kicks to deal with."
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