Playing 4-3-3, the same 'up-and-at-em' formation which swept Motherwell into pole position behind the Old Firm a year ago, McGhee's men won thanks to a combination of incisive counter-punching from midfield and the lethal finishing of Chris Porter, who scored a poacher's goal in each half.

True, Motherwell took their time to move through the gears in the first half and could consider themselves a shade fortunate to lead at the interval. In the second period, however, their three central midfield players – Keith Lasley, Stephen Hughes and Marc Fitzpatrick – grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and set up enough chances to secure the bragging rights in the Lanarkshire derby two or three times over. Bearing in mind there isn't much to choose between any of the sides challenging for third spot in the SPL, McGhee recalled how a run of losses, which included defeats from Rangers and Celtic as well as a brace of beatings from AS Nancy in Europe, combined to exaggerate the club's tentative form in the early stages of the campaign.

"We've won four from the last five, so I've not been buying any of this slow start stuff," confessed McGhee. "We've not been as exciting to watch and perhaps not as fluent as we were in the early part of last season, but we're still getting good results."

Not yet firing on all cylinders, there was still much to admire about the manner in which Motherwell poked and prodded at Hamilton's well organised 4-5-1 formation before eventually luring their opponents forward and catching them on the break.

In the second half, there were three or four occasions when Motherwell players found themselves in one-on-one situations with only goalkeeper Tomas Cerny to beat. Although they neglected to score with any of those inviting opportunities, it was a measure of the home side's dominance that they could afford to be so bountiful.

Hamilton got plenty of men behind the ball in the first half and made it difficult for Motherwell to find space. While they were rarely under threat from open play, the danger for Billy Reid's men lay in conceding from a set-piece. That was what happened when Alex Neil was penalised, harshly in the view of the Hamilton captain, for a challenge on Hughes. Robert Malcolm's resulting free kick delivery was glanced into the net by Porter.

They didn't change their shape after the interval, but Accies pushed their wide players further forward and that gave Motherwell the room to make more chances on the counter. "Motherwell deserved to win," conceded Billy Reid, the Hamilton manager. "They made more chances and our goalkeeper kept us in the game."

Where Reid had a legitimate grievance was at Motherwell's second goal. David Clarkson's diagonal shot was nudged over the line by the predatory Porter from what looked suspiciously like an offside position. "I think he had to be offside," added Reid. "You just had to look at the reaction of our back four and the goalkeeper who immediately went to the linesman. Maybe he thought (Clarkson's] shot went straight in."

Hamilton, who have lost their last six league games, looked livelier after the introduction of the teenage forward, James McCarthy for the last 25 minutes. The talented 17-year-old, who opted to play for Ireland rather than Scotland, was given abuse from the home support. Reid explained that the decision to leave the youngster on the bench was a football matter – he didn't want to play him three times in a week – rather than to protect McCarthy from offensive chanting.

Anyway, a bruising challenge from Steven Hammell on McCarthy near the end of the match served a reminder of the passions which fuel every local dispute. Scott Leitch, Motherwell's assistant manager, made a comment to the assistant referee which Reid didn't like. McGhee tried to play the peacemaker role, but ended up falling out with a member of the Hamilton staff he didn't know. It was a sure sign of what the first Lanarkshire league derby in 19 years meant to those on the sidelines as well as the gladiators on the pitch.