7pm

Today's result: Motherwell 2, Hearts 0

We ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against a very poor Hearts side at Fir Park this afternoon.  After a fairly scrappy first half, there was only ever one team in it after the break and in truth we could have won by a few more.

There was one enforced change to the team which defeated Morton in midweek, with Richie Foran replacing the injured Jim Paterson at left midfield.

The first half wasn't up to much, with very little football on show, but even then Motherwell definitely had the upper hand, and Stephen Craigan should have given us the lead shortly before half time when he hit the side netting from close range following a corner kick.

The second half was all Motherwell, and we took the lead after 59 minutes when Pressley was penalised for shirt tugging in the box and Kevin McBride stepped up to score his second penalty in a week.  A great move shortly afterwards culminated in Phil O'Donnell missing an absolute sitter, but he made amends a few minutes later with a superb volley from 18 yards which must surely be a candidate for goal of the season.  We kept pushing for a third, and Hearts' goalkeeper Gordon pulled off a great save from Clarkson late on.

This was a cracking result and performance, with no failures at all in the side today.  Gordon Marshall didn't have a save to make all afternoon, thanks mainly to his solid defence, with Craigan and Kinniburgh in particular outstanding.  O'Donnell and McBride were excellent in midfield, and upfront Scott McDonald caused Pressley all sorts of problems.  That's three wins in a week, and we're now up to 5th in the league.  Great stuff all round!

Team (4-4-2): Marshall, Corrigan, Craigan, Kinniburgh, Hammell, McBride (Fagan 88), Leitch, O'Donnell, Foran (Fitzpatrick 77), McDonald, Clarkson.
Subs not used:

Booked: Leitch

Attendance: 7,095

We've been drawn away to Inverness Caley Thistle in the 3rd Round of the CIS League Cup on September 21 or 22.  Not sure yet if the match will take place at the Caledonian Stadium or Pittodrie.

Bummer.

Shock horror!  Today's Daily Record has an article touting Martyn Corrigan for a Scotland call-up! 

Apparently Terry Butcher was quoted on the radio yesterday as saying that he was working away behind the scenes trying to add to the squad before Tuesday's transfer deadline. 

William Kinniburgh and David Clarkson are in the Scotland Under-21 squad for the friendly in Spain next Thursday and the opening UEFA European Championship qualifier against Slovenia on September 7.

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