Motherwell lost this CIS semi despite dominating the game for long spells. We conceded a late, late free kick when Graeme Smith was forced to handle a pass back and Celtic sneaked an undeserved win.
Football is, at times, cruel and unpredictable.There will be few who will argue that the better team lost the game.The players can hold their heads high confident in knowing that the fans fully appreciate the huge effort that they delivered.
Richie Foran gave us the lead after a ten minute opening spell when neither team had the upper hand.Corrigan and McBride were in control of the left wing and after a few touches McBride hoisted a high cross into the box.Boruc failed to take what should have been a 'keepers ball' and our number nine was on hand to head a floating effort into the net.It took an age but eventually the net bulged and we were one up.
We backed up the goal with lots of confident possession. The expected fight back from Celtic failed to materialise and it seemed that we were the more likely team to score.Then around the half hour, Maloney released Zurawski through the centre and he scored.Smith's touch was not enough to keep the ball out.
The team redoubled their efforts and had several chances before the break. McDonald demonstrated wonderful skill when he collected a long ball and in a flash escaped the attending defender. Boruc made a good stop from the resulting shot.
Skippy had another attempt swept off the line from close in when he tried to bundle a McLean header over the line.
Celtic had a brief flurry after the break but it was short lived. We looked happier on the ball, pressed when out of possession and rarely had our goal under threat.We forced a series of corners and the nervous Celtic defence was relieved to see a Hamilton effort whistle over the bar.
Hartson was booked for an assault on Smith then Kerr forced the save of the match with a rasping free kick.
Eighty seven minutes had passed and with extra time looking probable, disaster struck.Corrigan's over hit pass back was heading into the net and Smith had no option but to handle.Seconds later we were out of the competition.
O'Donnell and Thermeus were thrown in but with only two minutes of time added the game was lost.The players' body language summed up the disappointment felt by the thousands of Well fans who stood to applaud their efforts.Poor Corrigan was said to 'inconsolable' when Butcher gave his post match interview.
"They have gone beyond what we asked them to do" said the manager."It was a fantastic performance, we can be proud of the team".