The lot of the football fan is rarely a happy one: there is the season-ticket holder who turns up to watch his or her team at every home game only to hear the club complaining about a lack of support.

Then there is attending your club's most important match in decades only to discover that your seat has been sold to someone else, for a fiver.

There were angry scenes outside Fir Park minutes before kick-off as a group of Motherwell supporters vented their frustration at being denied access into the Davie Cooper stand.

The whys and wherefores of Motherwell's decision to slash prices for this game, effectively a UEFA Cup qualification decider, are for another day. The fans' anger will have dissipated yesterday afternoon with Celtic's 2-0 win over Hibernian, a result that ensured European football at Fir Park next season. Nevertheless, the timing of their entrance policy was all wrong.

It was always going to be a day when emotions ran high, anyway. There was a minute's silence before kick-off for "two members of the Motherwell family" who had recently passed away. The build-up was made all the more poignant by the gentle reminder that the last time the Lanarkshire club qualified for Europe, in 1991, Cooper and Phil O'Donnell were in the team.

Motherwell's season has been characterised by life before and after O'Donnell's untimely death in December.

Holding everyone together has been Mark McGhee, the manager, who on Saturday sought to distance himself from much of the praise for doing so.

"The lads deserve a lot of credit, particularly post-Christmas. They've had to deal with a lot. They've helped each other and they've shown a tremendous spirit to get through it. There are a lot of boys in there the dressing room who remain quite disturbed and emotional about events at Christmas and they've still managed to get points."

McGhee's diffidence was admirable, but it should be remembered that Motherwell only secured their top-flight status in the final month of last season after a miserable campaign under Maurice Malpas.

It was impossible not to become sucked into this compelling encounter.

Both sides started at breakneck speed and McGhee and his counterpart, Jimmy Calderwood, assumed positions so close to the pitch that, save for dress shirts and suit trousers, they could easily have been mistaken for players.

The raw intensity was made all the more ferocious by the oppressive weather conditions; the first half was an attritional battle of wills, in which Motherwell held the slight upper hand. That said, David Clarkson's volley over the top, after he had shifted the ball from left to right foot with a deft juggle, was all the hosts had to show for their early endeavours.

Aberdeen's cause was aided inadvertently when Andrew Considine limped off in the 18th minute. Calderwood changed his system from a 4-5-1 to a 3-4-3 and it had a galvanising effect. Suddenly, Aberdeen were in the ascendancy and Darren Mackie should have pulled the ball back or shot on goal instead of sending a trundler along the six-yard box and harmlessly away from the danger area.

McGhee's response at the start of the second half was to introduce Darren Smith for Marc Fitzpatrick, and immediately Motherwell took a grip on the game.

In the 61st minute, Stephen Hughes' surging run and cross was nodded up in the air by Chris Porter and, when the ball returned to terra firma, Smith prodded goalwards. His first effort was blocked but, when the ball broke to him a second time, he stabbed it home.

It was all-square within six minutes, however, when Mackie's hanging cross was met by Sone Aluko and he finished beautifully as the ball dropped on to his left foot.

Controversy ensued soon after when Stuart Duff crossed to the back post, where Barry Nicholson poked the ball with his studs only for Graeme Smith to deny him.

At first glance, it looked like a tremendous one-handed save, but television replays later confirmed the ball had been clawed out from behind the line.

Those in red shirts were not amused. "It's another refereeing decision that's cost us the game. If it had stood it would have changed the course of the game," said Nicholson.

To compound Aberdeen's sense of injustice, nine minutes from time Hughes took Clarkson's pass and slipped the ball to Porter, who sidefooted the ball past Jamie Lanfield.

Fir Park erupted: an outpouring of relief and emotion which would have brought a tear to a glass eye. And, at that, the heavens opened.

A bucket sat in the middle of the press room collecting water from a leak in the roof as Hughes reflected on what the win meant for him, the club and its supporters.

"It's a massive win. Everybody's delighted." Drip. "I didn't think I'd get the chance to play in Europe again after leaving Rangers." Drip. "The fans were brilliant." Drip. "It was better today than the support we get when we play the Old Firm." Drip. "I wish we could have that every week."

With European football guaranteed, those errant season-ticket holders might just be able to see the funny side.

Perhaps a football fan's lot is not that unhappy, after all.