Motherwell 2, Kilmarnock 2

Motherwell FC News

August 2001

Sunday, August 12

After this afternoon's match, BD accused Killie of attempting to "wind up" his players. He claimed that Chris Innes had been "winding Stuart Elliott up along with a few of their other players throughout the game." But Elliott had the last laugh with his late header and Davies added: "Full credit to Stuart for going in there." BD went on to say: "I felt we had to take both Karl and Scott off because both players like to put in tackles and are very aggressive at times." "This game was tight as they have proved in the past and even with 10 men it was very difficult to break them down. Kilmarnock sat in and made it very difficult, but I was delighted to get the draw. It was a great goal."

A last-gasp equaliser from Stuart Elliott gave Motherwell a point against a 10-man Kilmarnock side who appeared to have the thee points wrapped up. Killie took the lead after only 7 mins when a simple through ball opened up the Motherwell defence, and when Ally Mitchell's shot came back off the post Ngonge was there to tuck away the rebound. However, we equalised shortly afterwards when Kevin Twaddle's back-post cross was headed beyond Marshall by Andy Dow. The game then threatened to get out of hand with tackles flying in all over the place, and it was only a matter of time before someone was sent off. As it happened, Killie goalscorer Ngonge was the one to be red-carded after he went in with a two-footed tackle on Stevie Hammell having already been booked. The referee was struggling to keep control at this point, and with Ready and Leitch both on yellow cards Billy Davies wisely decided to substitute the pair. The second-half was a bit of an anti-climax, and despite playing against 10-men we struggled to create any clear openings. The lack of creativity in the midfield was evident as we launched a succession of aimless crosses into the box that were easily dealt with by the Killie defence and goalkeeper. As we huffed and puffed, it was no real surprise when the visitors broke upfield and snatched a goal, with Mitchell given all the time in the world to slot the ball beyond Brown. To be honest, the game appeared dead and buried as we hadn't created a single clear cut chance throughout the entire second half, but right at the death Stuart Elliott (as sponsored by the Unofficial Motherwell Website) grabbed an equaliser we probably didn't really deserve.

At times during the second half you'd have been hard pushed to tell which team was playing with 10 men. Our midfield was particularly disappointing, with Martinez and Twaddle creating very little between them. We lost any shape we had when Leitch went off at half-time, although on a more positive note Eddie Forrest definitely looked the part when he replaced Karl Ready. The new players are clearly struggling to gel and already it looks like its going to be a long hard season.

Speaking in today's Sunday Mail, Billy Davies reveals that he is still looking for a striker, even if Neil Tarrant's move from Aston Villa is made permanent. He said:
"We've lost John Spencer, Lee McCulloch and Don Goodman so it's an area we need to strengthen."

In the same article, Pat Nevin says that the days of Scottish clubs rushing into disastrous signings could now be a thing of the past thanks to Bosman:
"The market is changing and we are getting a chance to see a player properly. We can work out his personality and strengths of his game over a period of time. There's no reason to rush in and make rash decisions. We can look at each player for one or two weeks in training. I can get 10 players from all parts of the world who would pay their way over and have them on trail for two weeks."

Neil Tarrant has heaped praise on strike partner David Kelly, and he thinks that playing with the former Ireland World Cup star will boost his hopes of moving to Scotland full-time. He said:
"David's great and has performed at the highest level. It's brilliant to be up front with a player of his experience. Who better to learn from than some-one who has been in the World Cup? You learn every day and it's superb to be at a club where you have experienced guys. Where ever I've played there has been someone experienced alongside me. At Villa it was Dion Dublin and Paul Merson and now it's Ned Kelly."

Tarrant, who was only 19 when he left Ross County to sign for Aston Villa, admits the move might have come too early for him:
"It was always going to be difficult coming from a Third Division Scottish club to the Premiership. Ross County were half part-time so it was a big leap. I knew I could be at Villa for three or four years and not get a game. It may have been the wrong time to move but I could have never have turned down the chance. I would have always been wondering: 'What if?' Everything was going well but when I went down to Villa it got frustrating not playing. I was used to regular games."

"I was training all week and there was no end product. It was getting frustrating and then the move to Motherwell came out of the blue and it's been brilliant. It's all about playing every week and I'm grateful I have the chance to do that now."

Tarrant picked up a knee injury last week against Dundee United in an incident which sparked a mass brawl, but he said:
"I've been with the pyhsio doing some running and hopefully I can progress and be fit for the game. I saw the tackle on TV and I thought I was entitled to go for the ball. The rest was just handbags. We were desperate to go out and put in a good performance for the fans after the disappointment of the first game of the season. I didn't see any of the reaction as I was on the floor holding my knee. Ned Kelly stood on me but he didn't mean it and apologised after."

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