It was hardly a surprise to learn that Ian Baraclough elected to rest most of his first team regulars. Only Ramsden and Grant survived from the last outing and the nine changes gave us a chance to see some of the less familiar faces in the squad. Luke Watt probably made the best of the opportunity though there were few of his team-mates who enhanced their reputations.
Motherwell started the game on the front foot and most of the action in the opening 15 minutes took place front of the 671 away fans in the South Stand. Bur for all our pressure there was little pressure on Fox’s goal. Dom Thomas showed some sparkle when he waltzed through a couple of Thistle defenders to deliver a cross from the left side of the box but there were no takers.
Moore and O’Donnell had a close race into the area but n this occasion the defender won the tussle. Moore completed the first half action with a free kick that sailed above the bar.
The parade of hundreds of players from the impressive range of teams fostered by the Community Trust offered as much half time entertainment as the preceding 45 minutes.
The opening of the second period was a reverse of the first. Thistle took the initiative and it was their turn to push forward. Higginbotham was the driving force behind their attacks and Twardzik was given a chance to show off his agility with a couple of flying stops.
There were a couple of thrills for ‘Well fans at the Cooper end. Moore’s progress was halded just outside the ‘D’ and Sutton fired the resulting free kick to Fox’s left hand corner but the keeper was up to the save. Moore had another race into the box and managed to get a shot away but it missed the target. Sutton chipped in with a shot on the turn and a header on target but the game ended with no goal.
The only compensation for crowd was that the weather was kind. There was nothing at stake for either team and the tempo never rose above 75%. It was an afternoon best forgotten.
Motherwell 0 Partick Thistle 0
Attendance 3,711 (671)
Team: Twardzik, Carswell, Ramsden (O’Brien 55), Ainsworth (Leitch 45), Sutton (c), Moore, D Thomas, Watt, Straker, Laing (Law 62), Grant