10.45pm

Tonight's result: Motherwell 1, Rangers 2 (CIS Cup)

We went out of the CIS Cup at the hands of Rangers tonight, despite a late comeback which saw us pull a goal back in injury time.  We didn't play all that badly and enjoyed decent spells of possession, but sadly we carried little in the way of a goal threat for most of the game.

Mark McGhee opted for a 4-4-2 formation tonight, with Porter dropping to the bench and O'Donnell replacing the injured Hughes.

It became obvious early on that this would not be a night for free-flowing football, with referee Iain Brines seemingly determined to stop the play at every possible opportunity.  In an fairly even opening period, Ferguson hit the post with a free kick and Lasley went close for Motherwell, before Rangers took the lead through Novo after 22 mins, although there were claims Graeme Smith had been impeded in the build up.  Shortly before the interval, we appeared to get a major let off when the unbelievably incompetent referee denied Rangers what looked a clear penalty when Smith brought down Novo in the box.

The second half saw us enjoy plenty of possession, but we were caught on the break after 53 mins when Novo set up Boyd to double the visitors' advantage.  We kept pressing forward at every opportunity, but despite our territorial advantage, McGregor in the Rangers goal barely had a save to make.  In fact, Rangers had further opportunities to hit us on the break and put the game out of sight.  With Motherwell now playing 4-3-3, we penned Rangers back for the final 15 mins or so, and finally pulled a goal back in the dying minutes when Paul Quinn capitalised on a mistake from McGregor.  Sadly, it was too, little too late.

Although the players' effort and commitment could not be questioned tonight, the performance was still disappointing in a number of aspects.  We created very little upfront, and our set pieces and final ball into the box were absolutely atrocious.  Not sure why we left it so late before having a proper go, as we certainly had Rangers rattled in the closing stages.  

I haven't been to see the reserves this season, but surely someone like Mensing would have been worth a place in midfield ahead of Fitzpatrick, who was nothing more than a passenger yet again.  

However, perhaps the biggest disappointment of all is that we were up against a very average Rangers team tonight who were there for the taking.

Team (4-4-2): Graeme Smith, Quinn, Craigan, Reynolds, Paterson, McGarry, Lasley (Porter 57), O'Donnell, Fitzpatrick, McCormack, Clarkson.
Subs not used: Meldrum, Mensing, Grabban, Kinniburgh.

Booked: McGarry, O'Donnell, Fitzpatrick, Graeme Smith, Clarkson, Paterson (even though there was barely a bad foul during the entire 90 mins).

Attendance: 9,283.