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5.25pm

Motherwell scraped through to the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Cup with a narrow 3-2 win over Queen of the South at Fir Park this afternoon.  Despite 'Well leading 3-0 at half time, the First Division side pulled back two second half goals to set up a nervous finish to the game.  However, we held on and are through to the next round, and in a cup tie that's all that matters!

Terry Butcher made just one change to the side which lost at Dunfermline a fortnight ago, with Gordon Marshall returning to the starting line up ahead of Barry John Corr.

We found ourselves a goal up after only 1 minute of the match, when Derek Adams scored from the penalty spot after David Clarkson was bundled over in the box.  And not long after missing a good opportunity, Alex Burns finally opened his Motherwell account (second time round of course) when he headed home an Adams corner from 6 yards out to make it 2-0.  Motherwell continued to dominate, and Burns made it 3-0 just on the stroke of half time when he fired home from a tight angle and the ball was carried over the line by the Queens' goalkeeper.

With Motherwell 3-0 up and cruising, it seemed the only possible danger would come from the weather.  A heavy snow shower during the interval meant that we kicked off with a yellow ball in the second half, although fortunately the adverse weather abated and we were able to complete the game.  Motherwell continued to have the better of the match, and it was against the run of play when QoS pulled a goal back after 65 mins when O'Connor headed past Marshall from close range.  And then just four minutes later, O'Connor grabbed a second when he shot past Marshall from just inside the box to set up a nervy finish.  The visitors pushed everyone forward in the closing stages, and Marshall had to pull off an excellent save in the 80th minute to deny Paul Burns, but we held on for a narrow win.

I suppose that being 3-0 up at half time, it is only natural that the foot will come off the gas to a certain extent in the second half.  That said, it was slightly worrying the way our midfield vanished from the game when QoS forced their way back into it, and some of our defending was at times decidedly iffy .  Ah well, can't complain really as we're through to the next round, and like I said that's all that matters!

Team: Marshall, Quinn, Corrigan, Craigan, Hammell, Lasley (Bollan 77), Adams, O'Donnell, Dair, Burns (McDonald 88), Clarkson.
Subs not used: Corr, Fagan, Kinniburgh.

Booked: None.

Crowd: 8,101.

Out reward for winning today is a home tie with Inverness Caley Thistle in the next round on Saturday, March 6.  Yes that's right, ANOTHER home tie!  Pity it's not away, as it would have made an excellent day out.

With one of the Old Firm set to miss out on reaching the semis, could this possibly be our year...?

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