Motherwell held off a late Aberdeen fightback to secure victory in a seven-goal thriller in the first game of the SWPL split.

Keri Halliday, who only signed on loan from Hearts on Saturday night, got the scoring under way before Aberdeen skipper Hannah Stewart netted an equaliser for the hosts.

However, Carla Boyce scored the first of her hat-trick just before the break to give Iain Robinson's the lead at half-time.

Bridget Galloway struck for Aberdeen to once again restore parity but Boyce's penalty on the hour mark had Motherwell back in front and she got her hat-trick 10 minutes later.

Abi Tobin did get one back for Scott Booth's side to set up a tense finale, but Motherwell held on. As a result, the visitors stay eighth and the Dons stay ninth with a three-point difference between them.