The first half of our game at Easter Road disguised the fact we are supposedly fighting for our lives. The opening forty five minutes was incredibly boring with neither side looking particular eager to force chances.
James McFadden hit a snap shot straight at Andersson early on but that was the only save of note in the opening exchanges.
Hibs enjoyed more possession but for once we looked fairly solid having reverted to three at the back. Their young strike force performed well but never had the cutting edge required to threaten us. A couple of headers went wide but did not concern DuBourdeau, who returned in place of Woods.
The second half had not indicated that there would be any improvement when the ‘Well fans were roused from their slumbers to sing a couple of half hearted tunes. At this time McFadden was looking lively and winning free kicks but neither side really looked like scoring.
Of course, while things appear to be going relatively well, Motherwell can always contrive to gift the opposition a goal. Vaughan and DuBourdeau hesitated and Vaughan eventually hit a panic stricken clearance to his left. He couldn’t even clear the box and Partridge completed the disaster by hauling down Murray. Frankie guessed at the penalty and Brebner passed the ball into the empty net.
It took around ten minutes or so before we realised the severity of our situation and in the last fifteen minutes we attacked with an urgency that had been previously lacking. McFadden jinked between two defenders but blasted wide and he also forced Andersson into a sharp save after trying to catch him out at the near post.
We received a massive boost when Riordan raced clear on a breakaway only to see his shot rebound off the post. We looked certain to capitalise when McFadden latched onto a flick and crossed for Craig. Astonishingly young Steven made the abysmal decision to take a touch before trying to shoot. His attempt at controlling the ball was so poor, Andersson actually had to make a diving save to stop the ball spinning in at the post. We may live to regret this. Our final chance came in the fifth minute of injury time but the Hibs ‘keeper made a diving save from McFadden’s free kick.