Despite a nightmare week the orange-shirted heroes of Motherwell gave new manager Terry Butcher hope that the future could well be bright with a dream result at Rugby Park.

The crisis-torn club were placed into interim administration and put up for sale by chairman John Boyle on Tuesday, leaving the Fir Park players fearing for their contracts.

But instead of giving up they produced an amazing show of courage for Butcher to sink Kilmarnock with three goals in the space of a whirlwind five minutes of a dramatic second half.

Tommy Johnson had cancelled out Derek Adams' first-half opener, but within just five minutes Motherwell conjured up goals from James McFadden, Stuart Elliott and Stephen Pearson.

The 500 travelling Motherwell supporters deserved the result after a terrible week and they also showed their commitment to the club with their non-stop singing throughout.

Those fans might even have been more animated in the third minute when their side almost took an early lead.

Pearson took McFadden's throw in his stride and let fly with a right-footed rocket which flew just over the bar from just inside the area.

The Motherwell players looked fired up with their vocal followers cheering them on, but Karl Ready was just too aggressive and was booked for a foul on Johnson.

But Kilmarnock soon got into their stride and went agonisingly close to taking the lead in the eighth minute.

James Fowler slid the ball into the feet of Craig Dargo and the youngster fired a right-footed shot inches past the upright.

Just two minutes later the home side almost carved out another great chance.

Michel Ngonge found the overlapping Dargo and he cut inside before squaring to Andy McLaren, but Ready made a strong blocking challenge to stop him from getting a shot away.

But the visitors gave their supporters something to celebrate in the 21st minute when they took the lead.

Pearson did well to beat three men and burst into the box before squaring to Lehmann.

But a sliding tackle from Chris Innes knocked the ball into Derek Adams' path and he made no mistake to fire low under Gordon Marshall from five yards.

That brought an instant response from the home side who went close to levelling just a minute later when Fowler crossed to Johnson, but the former Celtic man fired just wide.

But Motherwell were fortunate not to concede a penalty in the 24th minute.

Dougie Ramsay looked to have obstructed Johnson from getting on the end of the ball in the box, but Mitchell waved away the protests.

Johnson could have lifted the frustration of the home side in the 37th minute.

Fowler ghosted past a couple of Motherwell players and slid the ball through to Johnson, who had beaten the offside trap, but he took the ball just too far giving Woods the chance to save.

Motherwell started the second half brightly and should have been awarded a penalty in the 49th minute.

McFadden found the overlapping David Fernene down the right and he was cut down in the box by Frederic Dindeleux, but the referee again chose to ignore it.

That angered the Motherwell fans and players and McFadden took his frustration out on Innes with a petulant kick at him which earned him a booking from the official.

Dargo quickly followed the Motherwell player into the referee's book for a late challenge on Steven Hammell as the game threatened to become nasty.

Kilmarnock boss Jim Jefferies realised that his side were running out of ideas and injected some much-needed spark with Murray and Kris Boyd coming on for McLaren and Ngone on the hour mark.

But Lehmann could have wrapped up the result in the 64th minute when he cut inside Innes, but blazed into the side netting from a tight angle with just Marshall to beat.

Adams was also booked for cutting down Murray minutes later before Kilmarnock were back on level terms.

Murray found Peter Canero and his cut-back was fired emphatically into the bottom corner by Johnson.

But if anybody felt that Motherwell would fold then they were sadly mistaken as it had the opposite effect.

Just a minute after Kilmarnock's equaliser, a loose clearance out of defence was seized upon by McFadden and he struck a crisp left-foot shot past Marshall.

But the fans behind the goal were in celebrating again just a minute later when they increased their lead further.

McFadden found Pearson down the left and he crossed for substitute Elliott to score from just six yards.

If Kilmarnock could not believe it then the visitors were still dreaming as their side scored again in the 75th minute.

The home defence were asleep as Hammell played a short free-kick to McFadden and he crossed for Pearson to beat two team-mates to bundle the ball home from close range.

The Motherwell fans and players celebrated at the final whistle after gaining some encouragement for the future.

Teams

Kilmarnock: Marshall, Canero, Dindeleux, Innes, Shields, McLaren (Murray 62), Mahood, Fowler, Johnson, Dargo, Ngonge (Boyd 62).

Subs Not Used: Meldrum, Mitchell, Dillon.

Booked: Dargo.

Goals: Johnson 68.

Motherwell: Woods, Corrigan, Ready, Strong, Hammell, McFadden, Ramsey, Ferrere (Elliott 65), Pearson, Lehmann (Wright 84), Adams (Martinez 82).

Subs Not Used: Dubourdeau, Kinniburgh.

Booked: Ready, McFadden, Adams.

Goals: Adams 21, McFadden 70, Elliott 72, Pearson 74.

Att: 5,642

Ref: Gary Mitchell (Scotland).