After the final whistle the Motherwell fans stayed on for almost half an hour buoyed by the late goal. The chanting and singing continued long after the last of the home fans had made their dejected tramp from the ground but they had to be content with a wave from the manager when he made his way up to the press gantry.
Our escorted walk back to town allowed time for the excitement to subside and after a few Pilsners the opinion was that we have a real chance of success even with a weakened team. Odense did not live up to their seeded status and we were a match for them.
The local paper on Friday page 1
Brown’s post match comments echoed those of the fans. A two goal margin did not reflect the balance of the play and we hardly deserved to lose the game. Jennings felt his bookings were soft and he’ll be frustrated at missing the next leg.
The local paper on Friday page 2
The players will have to forget about the Europa League for the next few days as we have an SPL game at Rugby Park on Sunday. Motherwell now have six competitive games in the bag against only one for Kilmarnock (and that was at Ibrox), surely we must have the edge in respect of match sharpness.
We won’t see Jim O’Brien diving into our travelling support to celebrate on Sunday but a confident win will set us up nicely for the big, big game that is to follow later in the week.
PS On a personal note – a big thanks to Willie & Nicky for their company on the trip.