Although McDonald grabbed the attention as he began his second spell in claret and amber the contribution of Pearson should not be overlooked. Having dominated the first half we took the lead thanks to a Laing header and had to battle back following the Inverness equaliser. Ainsworth had been on the park for 5 minutes before his low drive beat Esson to deliver the first win in 2015.
Enjoy!
Sutton, Moore and Straker were missing from the starting eleven as Pearson, McDonald and Law joined the fray. Ramsden filled in at left back with Law on the right. We set off with a midfield diamond, Lasley deep, Pearson forward with Johnson and Kerr either side. Erwin and McDonald were tasked with providing the goal threat.
We produced the best 45 minutes for months but ended the first half goalless despite spending most of the game in the Inverness defensive area. We piled corners and crosses into the visitors’ box and lacked only the killing touch. There were chances in minutes 9,10 and 11 with shots from Johnson, McDonald and an inviting ball across the six yard box making our control clear for all to see.
Inverness broke out from their defensive shell on a few occasions and reminded the home crowd that they were on a good run. One such attack was ended by a firm challenge from Ramsden but referee Muir saw it in a different light and the defender was booked. The best chance before half time came when Laing missed a header and Williams was given the freedom of the box. He tried to take the ball wide of Long but the ‘keeper stretched a right hand to steal the ball and prevent the loss of what should have been a certain goal.
The deadlock was ended in 48 minutes. An Erwin shot was deflected for a corner and the resulting cross was cleared. Grant collected and sent the ball back into the danger area, Laing, called from his defensive duties for the corner, was still in the box and his header flew into the net. The much sought after first goal had arrived and it was richly deserved.
We held on to the lead for almost 30 minutes until the Inverness debutant Ofere rose above our defence to head a powerful header beyond Long. News from other grounds suggested that a draw would have left us a couple of points adrift and our recent history suggested that we would not recover. Our fears were reinforced when Ofere’s header beat Long, hit the post and refused to cross the line.
Substitutes Sutton, Moore and Ainsworth were given the job winning the match as McDonald, Erwin and Johnson were replaced. It did not take long for Ainsworth to make the difference and his 25 yard shot from the left found the corner of the goal.
Ramsden collected a second yellow with two minutes remaining and we dug in to repel all boarders. We survived three added minutes and celebrated our first win of the year.
The manager’s post match thoughts included the phrase “the recovery starts now”.
Motherwell 2 Inverness CT 1
Attendance 3,508 (176)
Team: Long, Ramsden, Laing, Mcmanus, Law, Grant. Lasley, Johnson (Ainsworth 81), Pearson, Erwin (Moore 77), McDonald (Sutton 68)