Jim Goodwin admits it was total relief to see his Saints side finally book their place in the last eight of the Scottish Cup.
St Mirren survived a second half collapse to seal a quarter-final spot on penalties.
And gaffer Jim Goodwin paid tribute to his team for standing tall from the spot after nearly throwing it all away in the second 45 minutes.
He told Express Sport: “The first half was so good and possibly could have been better.
“We knew Motherwell had nothing to lose and were going to throw everything at us.
“If ever there was a game of two halves that was definitely it. There was so much negative stuff for us in the second half.
“When it goes to four each you start to fear the worse so I have to give credit to the players because there was still plenty of time left on the clock.
“It would have been easy to think it wasn’t going to be our night in the end so it’s really just relief I’m feeling right now.”
St Mirren’s blistering first half looked to have them sailing into the last eight of the Scottish Cup thanks to Jon Obika’s brace, Sam Foley’s strike and a Peter Hartley own goal.
But they had to do it the hard way in the end, and Goodwin paid tribute to the near 1,000-strong support for helping his team get over the line in the end.
He said: “The fans were incredible, especially during extra-time and the shootout.
“That backing really helped us get through it, We could have crumbled but we didn’t and they stuck with us right to the bitter end.
“The bottom line is we’re in the quarter finals and we’re delighted with that.
“The first 45 was incredible, I can’t remember the last time I had a team that scored four goals. We looked like scoring with every attack.
"It takes courage to step up and take penalties so I give credit to every one of them.”
