Source: FOOTYMAD
Well Done At Fir Park
No luck for the Buddies as the Steelmen pick up all three points. Motherwell finally earn their first three points at Fir Park of the season but manager Craig Brown admitted that a share of the points with St Mirren would have been a fair outcome. Motherwell consolidated their third place in the table with a 3-1 win thanks to two goals in the last three minutes by Tom Hateley, from the spot, and Jamie Murphy. Brown praised the performance of St Mirren, who are struggling at the foot of the table, and said of the win: "It's least said, soonest mended, from me. We'll take the three points because we've had occasions here when we've deserved them and didn't get them - against Hibs, we were on top, I think we deserved to beat Aberdeen and Celtic beat us 1-0 with a penalty. St Mirren's second-half performance is the most pressure we've been under here all season; they were sharp, lively and put in a shift. With 20 minutes to go, we would have taken a draw, and I would say to Danny Lennon's team that they're far from the worst we've played this season." Substitute Alan Gow won the penalty which turned the game with just minutes to spare and set up Murphy's third, after a game in which Motherwell were not at their best. Brown said: "Alan Gow made a very good impact and is terrific coming off the bench because he keeps the ball, and we had nobody doing so at that point in time. Once he's fit he'll hopefully be a very good starting player and give me more competition for places, but at the moment he doesn't have enough match practice to start for us. The lads weren't at their usual sharpness; we made three substitutions and it's no disrespect as we've had six European games, a League Cup game and seven league games already. It's hard work for the forwards when we don't have the resources to change them or rest them, so it's no disgrace when they're replaced - it was to freshen the team because St Mirren were holding very well and were up for getting a winner."St Mirren were forced to change goalkeepers due to Paul Gallacher's swollen knee, and Craig Samson took the gloves for the afternoon. He didn't have much time to get them dirty before he was picking the ball out of the net. The third-minute goal from Chris Humphrey was equalised through Gareth Wardlaw in the second half and the Buddies looked set to claim their first away point of the season. However, the late drama saw them slump to a fourth consecutive league defeat, the penalty being conceded when Lee Mair pulled down Gow when Samson slipped as he chased a backpass. Manager Danny Lennon said: "It's frustrating, and I couldn't have asked any more of them today - the players' application, desire and willingness to make things happen was great. In a way I blame Mair but in a way I don't - defenders cut across attackers but I think he was very rash and blatant and I'd be looking for it at the other end, but although Samson slipped he's still in control of the situation. You can understand why Lee Mair does that but you can't legislate for it, and then you get the third goal - our evidence is that he's well offside but we aren't making any excuses as the game was done at that particular time. We tried to frustrate Motherwell and then hit on the break and started to come into it, and were very unfortunate not to come in level at half-time after hitting the bar. In the second half I couldn't have asked for any more, other than end product, as Michael Higdon and Gareth Wardlaw really competed well and caused problems. Gareth took his goal well and it was well-deserved; that gives us something to take away and build upon." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
