For a game with effectively little riding on it, this proved a full-blooded and entertaining affair.
Motherwell’s narrow victory did at least eliminate any prospect of them being dragged into the relegation battle, and sets up a competition with defeated opponents St Mirren and Dundee United for the right to be crowned the best of the bottom half. The only surprise at the end of such an engaging contest was that it only delivered the one goal.
It arrived after 62 minutes, and in fortuitous fashion. Chris Long’s drive and shot was parried by Jak Alnwick, but it bounced off the lurking Devante Cole and trickled over the line. St Mirren’s backline appealed noisily for offside, but referee Kevin Clancy and his assistant were both unmoved and the goal stood.
Motherwell were perhaps fortunate to claim all three points, but their manager Graham Alexander was happy to accept them. He hopes also his players will continue to look up the table rather than worrying about what is going on beneath them.
“I know the league says we are 11 clear of Hamilton but our ambition is to take as many points as we can in the last four games and finish as high as we can,” Alexander said. “That’s a big win for our tally and results elsewhere have been reasonably good, but I don’t want that to impact our approach in our next games.
Advertisement
“We have to commit to every game and make sure we take more points. Staying up was the first target, but our effort and commitment shouldn’t stop there, so we will keep our foot to the floor.”
This was another setback for St Mirren in their quest to finish seventh after they narrowly missed out on a place in the top six. They were the better team throughout the first half, but they failed to convert their chances — including a missed penalty — and were eventually punished.
“I’m scratching my head a little bit trying to work out how we’ve lost that game,” said Jim Goodwin, their manager. “For the majority of it the players were excellent. They’ve completely dominated the game in terms of possession — we must have had about 70 per cent of the ball.
“It’s probably the best we’ve played for a number of weeks in terms of building the game and we looked really tidy on the ball. But the afternoon sums up our season in not being able to kill teams off.”
Jamie McGrath has been St Mirren’s player of the season with 13 goals from an attacking role, but yesterday represented a rare occasion in which he lacked his usual sense of inspiration.
Advertisement
Having previously wasted his shot in a one-on-one, he then missed from the penalty spot later in the first half. Referee Kevin Clancy had turned down one appeal from St Mirren
after the ball appeared to strike Robbie Crawford’s arm, but he could not say no a few minutes later when Scotland defender Stephen O’Donnell clipped the heels of Dylan Connolly.
McGrath has been so effective from 12 yards this season, with eight successful conversions, but Liam Kelly — who Alexander wants to retain on a permanent deal — guessed the right way, and the Irishman had an unwanted first missed penalty of the season.
Star man: Liam Kelly (Motherwell)
Motherwell (4-3-3): L Kelly 7 — S O’Donnell 5, D Gallagher 6, R Lamie 5, N McGinley 6 —
S Lawless 5 (B Maguire 46min, 5), A Campbell 6, R Crawford 6 — J Roberts 5 (M O’Hara 54, 5),
D Cole 7, C Long 6 (B Mugabi 81). Booked: Campbell.
St Mirren (3-5-1-1): J Alnwick 7 — M Fraser 6, C McCarthy 6, J Shaughnessy 5 (J Henderson 84) — D Connolly 6, E Erhahon 5 (K McAllister 73), R Flynn 5 (MacPherson 46, 5) J Doyle-Hayes 6, I Durmus 6 — J McGrath 6 — L Erwin 6 (K Dennis 73). Booked: Erhahon, Shaughnessy, McCarthy.
Referee: K Clancy