Queen's Park 0, Motherwell 3

Match Date: Tuesday, August 22 2000
Competition: CIS Insurance League Cup, 2nd round
Attendance: 1,845

Motherwell Team:

Goram, Corrigan, Oueifio (Wood), Strong, Hammell, Townsley, Adams (Davies), McMillan, Elliott (Harvey),  Goodman, McCulloch
Subs not used: Woods, Nicholas

Motherwell scorers: Strong, Harvey, McCulloch

'WELL RECORD FIRST WIN TO PROGRESS

Queens Park  0     Motherwell  3

GOALS FROM STRONG, HARVEY AND MCCULLOCH Saw Motherwell negotiate this tricky League Cup tie and in the process not only put themselves into the third round but also record the first win of the season. It was far from the convincing victory the scoreline suggested, but in the end the result was rarely in doubt. 

After a quiet start Stevie Hammel made ground on the wing to send in a low cross only for Connaghan to knock the ball away. Elliott picked the loose ball up and send a low cross in the direction of Don Goodman, and in turn almost set up Lee McCulloch, Sinclair clearing. Home striker Gallagher then looked to have carried the ball out of play but Referee McCurry amazingly gave a free kick against Stevie Hammel for reasons known only to himself. The ball was whipped in though Lee McCulloch, back defending, cleared downfield. Stuart Elliott made ground to supply Derek Townsley but the cross was disappointing. However, Townsley then made up for that slip with a clever run and cross but there were no takers for the inviting ball along the six-yard box. The ball was put out for a throw and when it was returned Adams made space to fire a 25-yarder not far past. The pressure was beginning to tell, and Brown was forced to concede a corner when McCulloch crossed to the far post. Greg Strong rose unchallenged to head home and put Motherwell one to the good. Motherwell kept up the play and McMillan's run took him to the by-line, the cross being missed by all and desperately knocked out for a throw by Marshall. McMillan was lucky to escape injury when Duncan caught him late in the middle of the park. There was no booking though from the free-kick Hammel picked out Goodman and his header was well saved by Smith. Queens Park had rarely been seen in the opening 19 minutes but suddenly they came right into things. Hammel was rushed into conceding a corner by Finlayson though Goodman was on hand to clear. Then Gallagher passed up a great chance to equalise when Sinclair sent him through on Goram, the striker hitting his shot of Goram's legs and away. Gallagher then sent Brown clear on the right only for Goodman to make a great block, the ball running off Corrigan for a corner which Sinclair headed well past. Motherwell were struggling at this point to put any decent moves together and it was the home side who threatened again. Finlayson dinked in a deep cross for Gallagher but his header went over the bar. Stevie McMillan did burst forward and he was denied by the knee of Sinclair who read the ball inside the box well enough to hook away. Good linking by Goodman and McCulloch presented Derek Adams with a chance from the edge of the box and his curling effort wasn't far off target. There was uproar when Finlayson clearly fouled Hammel inside the Motherwell half only for Referee McCurry to award the kick the other way. Gallagher sent a header towards goal but Ouiefio managed to clear. Martyn Corrigan became Motherwell's first booking of the match when he saw yellow for a tackle on Marshall, though the booking was harsh to say the least. Greg Strong almost then got on the score sheet for both teams when he knocked a dangerous cross by Connell, latching onto Carroll's ball, inches past his own post. Referee McCurry was clearly intent on upsetting as many people in claret and amber as he could by then not only awarding a free kick against Stevie Hammel but booking the Motherwell player despite a fair challenge on Finlayson. The ball was played out to Gallagher and he fired wildly over. There were derisory cheers when Motherwell were given a free kick after a clumsy challenge on Goodman by Ferry. Motherwell forced successive corners but the delivery on both failed to seriously trouble the home defence, though as the ball came out after the second flag-kick Ouiefio raised a cheer when he completely mis-kicked from 18 yards, landing flat on his back. The home side then appealed for a penalty as Goodman and Finlayson clashed but play was correctly waved on. Right on half-time Townsley curled a shot over the bar.

Half-time     Queens Park  0     Motherwell  1

The home side began the brightest in the second half and almost drew level right away. Finlayson made a run wide, outpacing McMillan towards the by-line and his cross was met by Connell. Unfortunately for the home side the header was completely mis-directed otherwise they would have drawn level. A brave Townsley block then stopped Marshall getting a shot on target, and Motherwell broke forward with Elliott. He sent Adams tearing towards the box and as he was about to pull the trigger from 18 yards he was hauled to the ground by Connaghan. Referee McCurry, however, deemed the tackle a dive by Adams and incredibly booked the Motherwell man. Motherwell continued to attack, Townsley sent Elliott to the by-line and his deep cross was returned back with Marshall nicking in ahead of the winger to give a corner away. Lee McCulloch made a run towards the box though with Elliott wide and in the clear he should have done better than the eventual blocked shot he did produce. A terrible pass in defence by Townsley then opened up an opportunity for the home side and it took great defensive work by Strong to rescue the situation, though even at that Connell then sent in an effort inches over. Much to the disapproval of the travelling support Billy Davies then replaced Stuart Elliott with Paul Harvey. The substitution was, however, almost immediately justified when Harvey's vision almost gave Goodman a clear chance, the ball racing off the turf and behind. Queens were still very much in the game and from a corner conceded by Corrigan Connell headed over. That was deemed a corner by Referee McCurry and from this flag-kick Marshall saw a netbound shot blocked by Townsley. The ball bobbed around and Marshall again fired in a shot which this time hit off Corrigan and was finger-tipped by Goram onto the bar before being cleared. Bookings were clearly being reserved for the visitors with Connaghan escaping a yellow for a late, late lunge at McCulloch. However, seconds later Referee McCurry changed his mind and booked Duncan when he caught McMillan with a tackle from the back. With 20 minutes to go Motherwell all but sealed the match. Townsley sent Harvey on the run through the middle and whilst Harvey got the break of the ball as Sinclair challenged there was no luck involved with his terrific finish from just inside the box. Queens were far from downhearted at this and Marshall sent a deep cross which Ouiefio did well to clear. The ball was quickly returned with Townsley forced to knock behind. Andy Goram, however, was there to punch well away. Stevie McMillan carried the ball towards the home goal and he shot from 35 yards over the bar. Martyn Corrigan then laid off for Derek Adams and his 20-yard header was well held by Smith. Slack play by McMillan inside his own box gave Connell a chance but his shot was weak allowing Ouiefio to sweep the ball out. Connell then gave away a foul when he brought down Adams 25 yards from his own goal. Motherwell replaced Adams with Davies during the stoppage, and when play resumed Harvey fired a shot inches past the far post. Queens Park then made a double change, Carroll and Brown being replaced by Flannigan and Miller respectively. The farcical run of bookings continued when Paul Harvey was booked for an innocuous tussle with Miller. The free kick went to Queens Park and Gallagher saw a flashing header well saved by Goram. Play swung to the other end with McMillan almost adding a third. A low cross by Ferry was partially cleared by McMillan and as Ouiefio completed the sweeping up he clashed with Connell and required a stretcher, with Martin Wood replacing the unfortunate defender. Wood was involved right away when he was brought crashing to the ground by Connaghan. The free-kick was taken by Harvey who gave Goodman the chance to shoot from 20 yards, the final effort going just past. Finlayson showed a clean pair of heels to Corrigan and set up sub Kwick-Ajet, who had replaced Gallagher, with a header, though Goram saved easily. Miller was late with a tackle on Goodman though amazingly enough there was no card. With virtually the last kick of the ball Wood and Goodman combined to send Lee McCulloch into the box and he drilled a fine shot into the roof of the net to seal the victory.

Full-Time     Queens Park  0     Motherwell  3

Match Report by Ricky Mullen (rmullen@motherwell.co.uk)