Alex McLeish finally broke his duck as Rangers manager at Fir Park as his side won a bad tempered match 1-0.
The match started with Motherwell the better of the two sides with Scott McDonald outstripping his Australian counterpart Craig Moore on the left before firing a shot that Stefan Klos saved well at his near post.
Two minutes later the two were head-to-head again as Klos saw McDonald's flick hit him on the chest.
Rangers' first effort was a Frank de Boer free-kick after 17 minutes which cannoned off the defensive wall.
Tempers were starting to rise and referee Rowbotham had to jump in between Michael Mols and Paul Quinn on the touchline.
Motherwell's best chance came in the 28th minute when Quinn powerfully headed a Jason Dair corner at goal, but Klos brilliantly turned the effort over for a corner.
Just on half-time Rangers took a surprise lead when Mols released Stephen Hughes, whose shot eluded Gordon Marshall and rolled in at the far post.
Shortly after the first of nine yellow cards was produced with Alan Hutton booked for a foul on Steven Craig.
The second half also started with a yellow card with Hamed Namouchi punished for a late challenge on Steven Hammell.
Some football did take place with a Dair shot just flying wide of Klos' left hand post before two more yellows were produced for Moore and Hughes.
Rangers almost extended their lead in the 69th minute when a Mols header was saved instinctively by the left hand of Marshall.
The game ended with a rash of bookings as Rangers tried to hang on to what they had and Motherwell pushed for an equaliser.
The luckiest of all the yellow card recipients was de Boer who clashed with Alex Burns off the ball and could easily have seen red.
Motherwell almost snatched a deserved equaliser with the last kick of the game when Craig just missed diverting a Phil O'Donnell shot past Klos.