8.45pm

Last night's result: Kilmarnock 3, Motherwell 2 (CIS Cup Quarter Final).

Motherwell crashed out of the CIS Cup at Rugby Park last night.  Although it might sound like it was a cracking match, I actually thought we were awful and deserved exactly what we got from the game.  

My mates and I arrived at the ground slightly late, but we were just in time to see the ball hit the back of our net as Killie went in front courtesy of an indirect free kick, awarded when a poor backpass from Fitzpatrick forced Meldrum to handle.  We were back on level terms not long afterwards when Clarkson was brought down in the box, with Richie Foran dispathcing his spot kick beyond the Killie goalkeeper.  However, the home side regained the lead just before half time, and although I missed the goal due to being in the pie queue at the time, I understand Meldrum failed to collect a cross ball and allowed Wright to head into an empty net.

We grabbed a controversial equaliser on the hour mark when the ref allowed play to continue despite Killie having a man down injured.  Clarkson needed around three touches to control McGarry's cross, but eventually he managed to steer the ball home just as the chance seemed lost.  We then went on to enjoy our best spell of pressure in the game, and it was against the run of play when Killie took the lead for a third time after 71 mins.  Invincibile curled in a shot from the edge of the box, and although it was difficult to tell from where I was sitting, Meldrum got a full hand to it and should perhaps have kept it out.  Our best chance of forcing another equaliser fell to Reynolds in injury time, but he blasted high over the bar and our League Cup hopes were over for another year.

Although Killie weren't much better than us last night, we handed the tie to them on a plate with two laughable mistakes for their first two goals.  Meldum might have been the hero against St Mirren on Saturday, but he had a nightmare last night and just about every ball Killie put into the box seemed to cause panic between him and his defenders.  Lasley and maybe Kerr aside, our midfield contributed very little, while a striking partnership of Elliott and Clarkson is never going to work, probably because they are both absolutely useless.

Anyway, enough of my inane rantings. You can read Ricky's report of the game here.

Maurice Malpas was sent to the stand by referee Kenny Clark following an altercation with his opposite number Jim Jeffries after Motherwell's second equaliser last night.  MM said afterwards:
"He said something about my team that I wasn't happy about and I went across to tell him.  I was just trying to defend my team. I'll suffer the consequences now.  There was a directive at the start of the season that the referee will determine if the game needs to be stopped, if it's a head knock.  Apart from that we had to keep on playing on because every time we went to a meeting people were complaining - some teams were kicking the ball out, some teams weren't kicking the ball out.  Some teams were diving and kicking the ball out. We have just played to the letter of the law.  I'm not going to criticise my players for continuing.  I was disappointed with what he said but I'm going for a beer with him now so it's done and dusted."

Malpas "dismissal" means he faces an automatic two-match touchline ban, however he will wait until he seems the referee's report before deciding whether to appeal:
"I will have to see what the report says.  If it is right in what happened, then I will accept it. If I disagree with what it says, then I will contest it."

Here's a cracking quote from MM, speaking BEFORE last night's game:
"We are a harder team to beat. Everyone is working that bit harder.  We have stopped giving silly goals away and we have stopped missing tap-ins. When you put that together it is improving our results.  I thought most of our performances were good earlier in the season but performances are no good when you get beaten.  It's all about getting a result on Tuesday night, whether that is after 90 minutes, extra time or penalties."

Interesting Tribal Football article on Scott McDonald.

Ricky's report of the St Mirren game is also now available.