Motherwell and Falkirk were forced to settle for a point apiece after battling out an entertaining 3-3 draw in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

Well must have thought they had victory in the bag at half-time, thanks to goals from Darren Smith and Scott McDonald.

But a superb eight-minute spell in the second half saw Falkirk take the lead through Thomas Scobbie, Patrick Cregg and an own goal from Stephen Craigan.

However, substitute David Clarkson earned a point for Motherwell when he netted seconds after coming off the bench.

As end of season games go, this one should have been fairly meaningless. Instead, it turned into a six-goal thriller.

The SPL split had already consigned both teams to a bottom-six finish and all that was left to play for was seventh place and the chance to best of the rest.

But it was a title both clubs were still in the running for - and desperate to claim - despite poor results in their most recent outings.

Well boss Maurice Malpas made two changes from the side who lost to Inverness last Saturday.

Paul Keegan and Smith were both drafted into the starting line-up, meaning Kevin McBride and Clarkson had to settle for a place on the bench.

There was also a place in the first team for Brian Kerr even though he had this week reached a pre-contract agreement with Hibernian for next season.

Falkirk made three changes following their defeat to SPL strugglers St Mirren on Monday night.

In came Scobbie, Liam Craig and John Stewart; out went the suspended Karl Dodd, Stephen O'Donnell and Vitor Lima.

Motherwell suffered a setback in the opening minutes when Danny Murphy pulled up while marking Alan Gow.

He limped off the pitch and was replaced by Paul Quinn after seven minutes.

The first chance of the game fell to Falkirk when Russell Latapy's free-kick picked out Cregg on the right flank.

He floated the ball onto the head of Carl Finnigan but goalkeeper Graeme Smith managed to hold the close-range header.

It was Motherwell who opened the scoring with 19 minutes gone. A great ball from Jim Paterson found McDonald and his cutback was met by Smith at the back post, who sidefooted home from six yards.

Motherwell could have added to their lead soon after when Paterson tried his luck with a shot of his own but the effort was blocked on the six-yard line by Kenny Milne.

Falkirk had a chance to haul themselves back into the game when Latapy released Finnigan into the box but his shot was weak and easily smothered by the goalkeeper.

Instead, it was Motherwell who doubled their advantage with 37 minutes on the clock. Quinn was the provider and McDonald did well to round goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel before coolly slotting home.

In the space of a few second-half minutes, Motherwell saw their two-goal advantage crumble.

Falkirk pulled a goal back three minutes after the restart when Gow set up Scobbie for the shot and he drilled under the body of the Motherwell goalkeeper.

Two minutes later, the Bairns were back on level terms. A long ball from Jack Ross was intercepted by Craigan but he made a mess of the backpass and succeeded only in nodding into his own net.

Falkirk then surged into the lead with 55 minutes gone when Cregg pounced on a Latapy free-kick and rifled home from 12 yards.

But the cheers from the away support barely had time to subside when Falkirk were pegged back.

Clarkson replaced Keegan with 57 minutes on the clock and, within seconds, he had the ball in the back of the net, bulleting home a McDonald ball.

Falkirk could have snatched a late winner when Finnigan found himself unmarked and in plenty of space but he sent his angled drive just over.

At the other end, only a last-gasp header off the line from Ross denied McDonald the chance to grab victory for Motherwell.

In the end, both clubs had to settle for a share of the spoils.