A 67th minute penalty from Kris Boyd earned Rangers a point at Fir Park and the 1-1 scoreline was an accurate reflection on what was an action-packed afternoon of football.

A first-half strike from Well no. 9 Chris Porter gave the home side a perfect start and from there it was a game of catch-up for the Light Blues who bombarded Graeme Smith's goal at the end in search of a winning goal.

Walter Smith reverted to his full-strength line-up for today's lunchtime encounter with Carlos Cuellar, Steven Whittaker and Kris Boyd remaining in the team that defeated East Fife 4-0 in the CIS Insurance Cup in midweek.

 Boyd, who netted his 50th and 51st Rangers goals in that cup win, started alongside former Kilmarnock team-mate Steven Naismith in attack.

Mark McGhee included three former Ibrox men - Graeme Smith, Stephen Hughes and Ross McCormack - in his starting XI and the boss showed his attacking intent by opting for a adventurous 4-3-3 formation from the kick-off.

The Steelmen were clearly in confident mood after their terrific 4-2 win over Hibs at Easter Road in the League Cup on Wednesday night and they came out of the traps quickly with Lasley and McCormack bright in attack.

At the other end Rangers could also have taken the lead on two occasions in the opening ten minutes with a Boyd shot from six yards being blocked after a good lay-off from Naismith before the prolific hitman let fly with a powerful left-foot drive from 18-yards which went narrowly wide of target.

In the early stages it was clear that this was going to be an entertaining and open 90 minutes of football and this proved to be the case with Motherwell pushing players forward at every given opportunity.

But this tactic almost backfired on 16 minutes when Steven Whittaker found space and his 30-yard effort with his left-foot swerved and dipped before being held confidently by Smith.

The home side, however, were clearly up for this fixture and on 24 minutes they stunned the travelling Gers' support by taking the lead.

Clarkston picked the ball up in midfield and fed an inch perfect pass through to Porter who steadied himself before shooting low past the helpless Allan McGregor.

The goal was followed by a frantic period of activity with Lee McCulloch blasting a superb strike from 20 yards off the crossbar and former Murray Park starlet McCormack showed his skill from set-pieces when he also hit the upright with a stunning free-kick from the left-wing.

A bit of frustration started to creep into Rangers play after the half-hour mark and Kevin Thomson, who had already being booked along with Carlos Cuellar, had to be calmed down by referee Craig Thomson after he had been clattered by three heavy challenges.

Rangers attempted to get back into the match prior to the half-time interval but a Carlos Cuellar header that was deflected on to the bar with seconds of the period remaining was as close as they came to an equaliser.

Smith made one change for the restart with Jean-Claude Darcheville replacing Steven Whittaker and the Rocket immediately joined Boyd in attack with Naismith moving to the right side of midfield.

Darcheville immediately showed the Motherwell defence that they were in for a rougher ride than they endured in the first-half and the Frenchman hit the post on 50 minutes but was already ruled offside.

Remarkably, this was to was to be the last bit of action for the striker as he had to be taken off due to a hamstring injury after only ten minutes and he will now miss Tuesday night's big Champions League clash against Lyon.

More reshuffling was needed as a result of Darcheville's departure and McCulloch was pushed forward into an advanced role alongside Boyd.

Boyd continued to look the most likely player to score for Rangers but Scotland's deadliest hitman was disappointed not to have made the most of three opportunities that came his way prior to the hour mark.

With 66 minutes played the game was turned on its head when Beasley went between two Motherwell players on his way into the 18-yard box and Lasley tripped the tricky American just as he was about to cross into the danger area.

The ref had no hesitation in awarding the penalty and Boyd, clearly agitated at not having hit the net earlier, battered his spot-kick beyond Smith for his fourth goal in seven days to silence the home support.

Smith made one final change to his team on 79 minutes with Charlie Adam replacing Naismith as the Gers' bid to secure three points in the last ten minutes of the game but the players late efforts were in vain as Motherwell held on to secure a draw and maintain their impressive start to the season.

For Rangers this was a disappointing day at the office but Mark McGhee's team deserve credit for their work-rate and commitment on the day.