Dundee made sure of a top-six finish with a victory that leaves Motherwell rooted to the bottom of the table, but they were made to fight hard for the points at Fir Park.
Hibernian's failure to beat Livingston meant Jim Duffy's men would have finished sixth anyway even if they had succumbed to a late onslaught from the home side, who had been brought back into the game by James McFadden's 78th-minute strike.
Dundee had enjoyed the better of the first half and took a 2-0 lead into the break thanks to goals from Mark Burchill and Steven Milne but they were rarely comfortable after the restart.
Dundee made a perfect start as Burchill netted from his side's first attack in the second minute.
Motherwell skipper Scott Leitch had carelessly surrendered possession to the on-loan Portsmouth man in midfield and, having sent Milne away down the left, he
made ground to the near post to net with a stooping header.
The home side had plenty of opportunities to equaliser and none better than Dirk Lehmann's in the 13th minute.
Dundee skipper Barry Smith failed to connect with David Cowan's ball into the box but despite having all the goal to aim at the German blazed over.
Fellow striker Steven Craig was closer a minute later but still not on target as he fired a shot off the top of the crossbar.
Dundee also fired over from good positions with first Fabian Caballero and then Burchill shooting too high.
But the South American was deadly accurate with his through ball to Milne in the 24th minute which allowed the striker to net off a post.
Giorgi Nemsadze was winning the early battle of the play-makers with McFadden slow to get into the game and the 20-year-old was lucky not to be booked for hacking the Georgian down.
But McFadden showed quick feet on a number of occasions and saw a shot saved by Julian Speroni after an exchange with Keith Lasley, who fired the last shot of the half wNemsadzeide.
By then Leitch had atoned for his early error by making sure a free header from Jonay Hernandez from a Nemasadze corner did not hit the target.
McFadden produced a brilliant double turn to make his way past challengers into a crowded box but his cross was cleared.
Burchill's afternoon ended in the 52nd minute when he was replaced by Nacho Novo while two minutes later the home side sent young striker David Clarkson on for Lasley.
Motherwell had nothing to lose by sending more men forward but when Craig fired in a fine rising dive he was denied by Speroni.
Speroni did even better to foil a McFadden effort from more than 20 yards out but Motherwell were also vulnerable at the back and it needed a perfect tackle from Martyn Corrigan to rob Novo when there had been blue shirts free.
Smith was booked in the 63rd minute for a tackle on Craig that angered the home fans and Gavin Rae soon followed after being out-muscled by Clarkson.
Nemsadze and McFadden exchanged disappointing free-kicks before Motherwell threw on on-loan Newcastle striker Richard Offiong for Lehmann with 24 minutes remaining.
Novo fired wide and then at Dubourdeau, with the goalkeeper spilling the latter effort but recovering before Milne could pounce.
At the other end, Offiong did well down the right and found the head of Craig at the far post but he could not hit the target.
But Craig was the supplier for McFadden's 78th-minute strike that put the game back in the balance.
The ex-Falkirk man headed a cross from the right back into a crowded box and McFadden was able to take the ball past Speroni and, after recovering his poise, put the loose ball in the back of the net.
Suddenly Dundee looked vulnerable, especially as the injured Novo was replaced Zurab Khizanishvili, himself short of fitness.
Smith had to head an Offiong cross over from under the crossbar Wilkie almost made sure of the points at the other end with a header from a corner that bounced just wide.
Motherwell poured forward until the final whistle but no equaliser was forthcoming.
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