The game has had huge exposure and clips of the goals have been shown worldwide. Headline writers have been busy as they try to summarise the marvellous Motherwell recovery in a few words :-
Well and Hibs get their kicks on route 6-6 (Sun)
John Hughes left shocked as Hibs throw away four-goal lead in SPL's highest-scoring thriller (Record)
Motherwell 6 - 6 Hibernian: Nish hat-trick is not enough in 12-goal thriller (Scotsman)
Brown left gobsmacked as Steelmen redefine the term (Press and Journal)
Motherwell fight back from 6-2 down against Hibernian to snatch draw (Guardian)
We were treated to some woeful defending from both teams, a spectacular come back (have Motherwell ever won a game from four behind?) and a stunning equaliser deep into added time from Lukas Jutkiewicz. If ever an advert was needed to show the thrills and spills of the SPL, this was it. Motherwell fans were first to suffer. The team started poorly and as goals rained in to Ruddy’s goal it seemed that we had no chance of taking anything from the game. Our European hopes looked doomed. The half time chat held out a faint hope that if we were to score the next goal then we might have a chance but we conceded another couple and with twenty odd minutes remaining we trailed 2-6. It was now the turn of Hibs’ travelling support to suffer. Coke, Hateley and Sutton (with the help of the former Well keeper) dragged us back to 5-6. Hibs fans, stunned as they watched their team crumble thought they might hold on when we failed to convert a penalty but the equaliser did come, in the dying minute. Jutkiewicz’s strike was worthy of winning more than just a point and he’ll be fortunate to better it any time in his career.
Hidden in the post-match celebrations was the likely farewell from the fans to a few players. We know that Jutkiewicz and Ruddy, despite Craig Bown’s best efforts, are likely to leave along with Jim O’Brien and we are grateful for their services but we need to give a very special thanks to Mark Reynolds. He is a product of our youth system and made his debut in 2006. His has been a fixture in our back line and has over 150 appearances to his credit. He celebrates his 23rd birthday tomorrow (Friday) and although he has a year’s contract remaining it seems certain that a move will happen in the close season. Many thanks Mark!
The East Stand explodes with delight!
Every fan has memories of a few special games. These usually involve trips to Hampden or unexpected twists (Skippy Sunday) but this one has earned its place with the best and those of us who were there were the lucky ones.
We look forward to Sunday’s final league game (the 47th competitive game) and hope for a combination of results that will deliver fourth place.