Motherwell earned what seemed like an unlikely three points when Tony Watt headed Lennon Miller’s free kick home with the last action of the match.
Motherwell’s players and fans enjoyed wild celebrations as the last gasp winner ended the three game losing run. The afternoon produced few moments of skilful play as neither team came close to their best. But that mattered little as Motherwell return to fifth place in the table.
Tony Watt grabs the winner
Stuart Kettlewell brought Shane Blaney and Andy Halliday back to the staring eleven as Kofi Balmer and Harry Paton were benched. Stephen O’Donnell was back as a substitute and fans were treated to a closing ten minute appearance of Sam Nicholson.
A curtain needs to be drawn over the first half. Two poor teams hoofed away to no great effect. Conor McMenamin cut in from his right to fire against the bar for the home side but there was little to cheer the 500 visiting fans. Perhaps the strong wind may have contributed to the alarming number of misplaced and over-hit balls.
Motherwell improved a bit in the second period and there was some action in front of Ellery Balcombe’s goal. Jair Tavares squared the ball across the area but with three claret and amber jerseys in attendance it fell to Steve Seddon to miss the target.
The defender came close later with a deflected effort that came off the bar.
A non-scoring draw looked certain with the forurth official signalled three additional minutes and a couple of those had passed before Alex Gogic committed a foul. His second yellow led to a red and Lennon Miller stepped up. The delivey across the front of the pack was the right height for onrushing Tony Watt to head into the net. It was the last action of the contest and three wonderful points went back along the motorway to Lanarkshire.
The team has secured a second clean sheet and restored some belief after three defeats. Happy day.
St Mirren 0 Motherwell 1
Attendance 6,111 (480)
Team: Oxborough, Tavares (Kaleta 77), Casey, Gordon, Blaney, Seddon, Halliday (Nicholson 83), Wilson (Paton 72), Miller, Watt, Stamatelopoulos (Ediye 77)
Saturday 7 December 2024