8.15pm

Yesterday's result: Motherwell 1, Rangers 1.

Great day at Fir Park yesterday to round off an eventful and memorable season.  The game itself, which saw Chris Porter notch a deserved second half equaliser for Motherwell, was almost secondary to the post-match celebrations as the players took a deserved lap of honour while also paying tribute to their late captain, Phil O'Donnell.

Motherwell simply didn't get going in the first half, and we were probably fortunate to go in at the break only one down.  The goal came after 29 mins, when Graeme Smith flapped hopelessly at a free kick, allowing Dailly to head into an empty net.  Other than a Brian McLean shot just before the interval, we were seldom seen as an attacking force.

The turning point came shortly after the restart, when Smith made amends by saving from Cousin when the Rangers striker had a great chance to kill the game off.  We were level minutes later when Porter prodded the ball home after Clarkson had hit the post, and from that point on we dominated proceedings.  Our best chance of a winner came when we found ourselves with a 2 v 1 situation late on, but we failed to capitalise and had to settle for a point. 

The REAL action however took place after the game, when the players returned to the pitch wearing shirts with "O'Donnell 10" on the back for their lap of honour, triggering emotional scenes in the stands.  The huge O'Donnell shirt banner was also unveiled to chants of "One Phil O'Donnell" from the fans.  Many of the players also sported sombreros, while beach balls were launched from the East Stand in recognition of the UEFA Cup adventures to come.  A slight change from the last home game of last season, when season tickets were being thrown onto the pitch as Motherwell only narrowly avoided relegation.

It's days like this that make it all worthwhile.

Team (4-4-2): Graeme Smith, Brian McLean, Craigan, Reynolds, Hammell, Darren Smith (Fitzpatrick 66), Lasley, Hughes, McGarry, Porter, Clarkson (Murphy 74). 
Subs Not Used: Daniels, Lappin, McCormack, Connolly, Meechan.

Motherwell scorer: Porter (50).

Booked: Craigan, Lasley.

Attendance: 10,445.

Mark McGhee's post-match comments were as follows:
"We were poor in the first half.  Rangers out-muscled us and we were lucky just to be one goal down at the interval.   But we turned it around after the break and rescued a good performance.  We took the game to them and we had to defend well as they threw everything at us in the period after our goal." 

Of the post-match celebrations, he added:
"Football clubs are all about supporters.  There has been a lot of disappointment over the last few years, but we have given them some good performances and they have seen some good goals. The fans have got a little bit of pride back in their team.  Now we have European football to look forward to.  We have seen what Rangers did and, more realistically, we saw Aberdeen progress from the Uefa Cup group stage. If we could go on a journey like that, it would be a fantastic experience for us and part of the development of many of these young players." 

The Sunday Mail reports that Ross McCormack will almost certainly play his last game for Motherwell at Easter Road on Thursday before moving down south, possibly to Wigan.  The same paper also claims that Blackburn are no longer interested in Paul Quinn following his off the field indiscretions, while former 'Well player Richie Foran is set to sign for Aberdeen.