Fulham made the better start to the match and they took a deserved lead after fifteen minutes.Stevie Craig missed a chance to head a corner clear and the ball was quickly whipped back into the box.Corrigan was caught on the wrong side of Saha and his despairing challenge appeared to knock the ball past Corr although the goal was credited to the striker.
This startled us into action and we fought back with a couple of good passing moves.Van der Sar had to stretch to his full length to deny Burns and Pearson had a half volley deflected wide.
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Fulham could have doubled their advantage but Corr produced a good one handed save to touch a shot over the bar.David Clarkson had been causing problems for the Fulham defence and when he was bundled over outside the box, Adams tested the ‘keeper with a good free kick.However, when Clarkson was hauled down in the area a few moments later, Burns made no mistake with the spot kick to send the teams in level at half time.
The second half took a little while to get started but we almost took the lead in bizarre fashion.A high ball seemed to pose little threat until a defender attempted an enthusiastic header back to the goalie.Van der Sar needed all of his massive frame to prevent an embarrassing own goal.
Fulham regained the lead with a goal which started at a Motherwell corner.Marlet broke away on a counterattack but it looked like Pearson had done enough to salvage the situation.Sadly he seemed to trip over the ball and the French striker was made no mistake with an easy chance.
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At this moment, James McFadden was brought off the bench to the loudest cheer of the day.He took a short while to get into his stride but it did not take him long to turn the game in our favour.He had a couple of nice touches and good runs and he stung the palms of Van der Sar along with zipping two other efforts narrowly off target.In the last minute, Faddy received a short corner in the box and turned his man brilliantly before crossing the ball into the six yard box leaving Toastie with a tap in equaliser.
So, a good test against better opposition and we did well.The defence was shaky at times but we did pass the ball about and created a lot of movement off the ball.Bring on Dundee!
Team: Corr, Corrigan, Craigan, Partridge, Hammell, Lasley, Adams, Pearson, Craig (McDonald), Clarkson (McFadden), Burns