IN SPITE of an enduring vulnerability at set-pieces which has cost them dearly all season, events at Fir Park and Pittodrie over the weekend suggested Motherwell are unlikely to be caught by either Dundee United or Hibernian in the race for third pla
ce in the SPL.
A point better off than United and two clear of Hibs with a brace of games in hand over their closest rivals, Motherwell are favourites to earn a spot in Europe for the first time in 13 years next season. Mark McGhee, the Motherwell manager, believed his point was a better one than the share of the spoils which Craig Levein, the United manager, took back to Tannadice. Certainly, the onus on United to take something from this game was so great that Levein was poised to take off a centre-back and send on a centre-forward for the closing five minutes or so. Trailing 2-1 as Mark De Vries waited to come on, United won a throw-in in an attacking area, and Levein remarked to his assistant, Peter Houston, that unless Lee Wilkie scored from it, he was coming off.
Danny Grainger's long throw to the front post was flicked on by Darren Dods towards the back post where the towering Wilkie used his physique to head home.
Grateful for Wilkie's timely intervention, the United manager reconsidered and left his back four intact, making a like for like swap by replacing the ineffective Jon Daly with De Vries. Even so, it was Motherwell who had the opportunity in injury time to collect all three points. David Clarkson stole the ball off Sean Dillon in midfield, and steamed towards United's penalty box.
On almost any other pitch in the SPL Clarkson would have seized the opportunity to score himself. Instead on a rutted central area bereft of grass, he struggled to keep his balance and had to lay off a pass into the path of substitute Keith Lasley, who swiped the ball wide of the near post when a more composed finisher would have driven across goal.
Had Motherwell secured the victory, then the prize of European football would have been all but within their grasp. McGhee, who predicted beforehand the pitch wouldn't play any part in settling the outcome of this game, had to revise his opinion afterwards.
Motherwell had gone ahead through a close-range Porter header in 17 minutes, but United levelled just before the break when
Stephen Craigan scored his fourth own goal in a year.
Porter restored Motherwell's lead with a header, but, by the time Wilkie nicked an equaliser, both sides were reasonably content with the outcome of the contest if not the shortcomings of a playing surface which denied the clubs striving to become the best of the rest behind the Old Firm an opportunity to play to their potential in front of Setanta's television cameras.
The full article contains 511 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
