Motherwell boss Graham Alexander admitted it was a good moment to get a derby win under his belt, having been second-best to Accies in all three previous derbies this season.
Mark O'Hara's 37th-minutes strike took the points back across the Clyde against a side that were reduced to 10 men just three minutes earlier when Ronan Hughes flew into a wild tackle on Robbie Crawford.
Alexander says his side were set up to win the game, and he's pleased that they did just that, as they head into a Scottish Cup quarter-final clash at Hibs on Saturday.
He said: "I'm really pleased with the result. Obviously we came here to win the game, we knew it was going to be tough, the last game was exceptionally tough, and the record this season against them hasn't been great at all.
"So we had to come here, be dogged, be aggressive, compete, and do all the basics well, which I think we did, and scored the goal that won the game.
"I couldn't have asked more from the players.
"We changed the shape a little bit today, to compete against them in a way we felt would win the game and we've done that, but the players deserve all the credit because it has been a tough season, certainly against Hamilton, our local rivals, the rivalry that goes between the two clubs.
"We've been second best all season, but we weren't today, and that's really pleasing.
"If you take the Kilmarnock game out of it we've been on a really good run of winning games, but we don't want to relax at all.
"We've tried to keep the pressure on within ourselves, to make sure we keep our foot to the floor, and we try to win every game we compete in."
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