Dunfermline 2, Motherwell 0

Match Date: Wednesday, September 6 2000
Competition: Premier League
Attendance: 3,428

Motherwell Team:

Goram, Corrigan, Oueifio, McMillan, Hammell, Goodman, Davies (Brannan), Leitch, Townsley, Spencer, McCulloch (Elliott).
Subs not used: Woods, Kemble, Wood.

MISERABLE RUN CONTINUES AS WELL CRASH OUT

Dunfermline Athletic 2     Motherwell 0

THERE WAS A DISTINCT Lack of Steel about the Fir Parkers as they rather meekly crashed out of the CIS League Cup at East End Park. At one point the home players had Motherwell chasing shadows and there was little doubt the outcome was not going to be positive for the visitors.

Dunfermline pushed upfield right away and it took a vital tackle from Oueifio to stop Mendez running clear on Doesburg's pass. The visitors struck back with Leitch sending a long ball for McCulloch to chase. The striker beat off the challenge of Dair but shot wide of the post with Ruitenbeek beaten. Crawford then ran for a loose ball but McMillan intercepted at the expense of a throw. John Davies was slack with a pass in defence causing a corner, though the combined efforts of Goodman and Ouiefio cleared the danger. A clever passing move involving Davies and Goodman seemed to send McCulloch racing towards goal, but the striker was hauled back by the linesman who seemed to raise his flag rather too quickly. As the ball was played back into the Motherwell half Ouiefio knocked a return and was caught late by Moss who escaped any punishment. Mendez gathered possession and, with defenders backing off, made progress to the box though with Moss and Crawford inside he failed to look up and the move fizzled out. A great double-save from Andy Goram then kept the scoreline blank as he firstly parried a fierce Mendez shot and managed to smother the follow-up from Crawford round the post. The alarming space given to Dunfermline's players was cruelly exposed in 12 minutes when they took the lead. Thomson took full advantage of indecision between Corrigan and Davies to run freely towards the box and then unleash an unstoppable shot to give his side the lead. Motherwell were on the back foot now and soon after Mendez turned Corrigan rather too easily to fire inches past. Moss came even closer in the next attack when he rose to head Dair's perfect cross off the post. Mendez picked up the loose ball and his rasping shot was tipped over by Goram, though Referee Freeland pointed for a goal kick much to the disgust of the locals. Motherwell at last managed to shake themselves out of defence with John Spencer seeing a strong shot blocked away as far as Davies who also had a shot desperately blocked by Ferguson. It was Motherwell's turn to apply a little pressure with Stevie Hammel, impressive throughout, forcing a corner. Derek Townsley rose to nod back across where Ferguson partially cleared. McMillan supplied Spencer but his dink to the back post was easily claimed by Ruitenbeek. There was uproar when former Ibrox man Ferguson made a shocking tackle on Scott Leitch. To add insult to injury Referee Freeland produced no card. It should have been two to the home side when Crawford beat Ouiefio on the left to knock a cross in to Thomson, but the reaction was poor and the ball put behind for a corner. Motherwell themselves then appeared to have forced a corner when Davies' shot hit a Pars defender on the way by but a goal-kick was again incorrectly given. Spencer then sent Goodman wide but his cross carried too much pace for McCulloch. The visitors were given a corner when Doesburg played Townsley's cross behind, Doesburg being involved again soon after when he cleared Spencer's cross-cum-shot away from almost on his own line. As the game edged towards half-time Motherwell appeared to up the pace in search of an equaliser. Skinner cleared just ahead of Spencer with Townsley's eventual header gathered by Ruitenbeek. Right on the interval Dair was late with a tackle on Spencer and whilst a card should have been shown Motherwell had to make do with a free kick which was ultimately wasted.

Half-Time     Dunfermline 1     Motherwell 0

Fir Park Manager Billy Davies clearly had words with his team's lacklustre first-half display as they came out and immediately took the game to their hosts. A poor clearance by Ruitenbeek fell to Davies but with the Keeper well off his line he chose to delay and pass instead to Goodman. The popular striker strode into the box but his shot blazed over the bar. It was almost level pegging when Hammel made tremendous ground to send over an inch-perfect cross which McCulloch nodded only inches past the far post. McCulloch was then booked for a poorly timed challenge on Skinner which, given what had gone on before, was extremely harsh. Mendez made the by-line and his fierce cross was well taken by Goram. Motherwell had a claim for a penalty ignored when Thomson appeared to push McCulloch inside the box, and it was to be McCulloch's last involvement in the match as he was substituted soon after by Stuart Elliott. The Fir Park side continued to push forward with Spencer sending Goodman in on Ruitenbeek. It was a 50-50 ball and whilst Goodman won it fairly play was stopped and a free kick given to Dunfermline. On the hour mark the home side took off Mendez, who seemed to take an age to leave the field, and replaced him with Bullen. The reluctance of Referee Freeland to book Dunfermline players continued when he ignored the dissent shown by Nicholson, the East Ender throwing the ball away after being penalised in midfield. Motherwell should have equalised when Corrigan made a terrific run and crossed to Spencer. The normally reliable forward, capable of the spectacular, completely missed his kick from just beyond the far post and gone was Motherwell's chance of saving the tie. Skinner fired a shot inches past before Moss rose unchallenged to smack home a deep cross and finish the match as a contest. Davies was hauled off to be replaced by Brannan for more bite in midfield. The visitors should have been given a free kick near the by line when Ferguson deliberately held Townsley down but this was again ignored. Seconds later Dair brought Goodman down just outside the box giving Motherwell a good chance. The free kick was flicked on by Townsley and although Elliott looked to have saved the ball going out the linesman, poorly positioned, thought otherwise. Good work by John Spencer then forced a corner as Dair had to knock behind but like most other crosses this was all too easily gathered by Ruitenbeek. Another Motherwell player saw yellow when McMillan was booked for a bad tackle on Thomson out on the wing. Moss saw a shot deflected by Corrigan wide and before the corner was taken Thomson left to be replaced by former Motherwell player Rob Matthei. The last chance fell to Motherwell, Goodman's cross put behind by Doesburg with Brannan heading the corner well wide. Time was blown soon after on another miserable result for the travelling faithful.

Full-time     Dunfermline Athletic 2     Motherwell 0

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