Dunfermline 3, Motherwell 1

Match Date: Saturday, January 19 2002
Competition: Scottish Premier League
Attendance: 4,280
Motherwell Team (3-5-2):

Woods, Ready, Deloumeaux, Strong, Soloy (Nicholas 73), Lasley, Leitch, Pearson (Lehmann 56), Hammell, McFadden, Elliott.
Subs not used: Brown, Corrigan, Martinez.

Motherwell scorer: McFadden (77). 

Yellow Cards: Leitch, Lasley.

MORE AWAY MISERY FOR THE WELL

Dunfermline  3     Motherwell  1

ANOTHER POOR PERFORMANCE ON THE ROAD From Motherwell gave the Fir Parkers their 11th defeat in 14 games. It was almost a carbon copy of the Cup Tie a fortnight previous and leaves Eric Black with a mountain to climb in terms of performances on the road.

Motherwell began in positive enough mood and it took an important interception from Thomson to prevent Elliott receiving the long ball from Leitch. Soon after the visitors forced a corner when McPherson had to head behind as Elliott hovered around. However, for reasons known only to Referee Dougall he felt Ready had unfairly breathed on Skerla and the free kick went the way of Dunfermline. The homesters first effort came after 11 minutes, Panapoulos shooting wildly over from the edge of the box. Petrie then forced a corner off Soloy which Elliott cleared as far as McPherson, the resultant shot skewing wide. Motherwell broke forward with Elliott and as he entered the box it looked suspiciously like Mason had pulled him back, but not so according to Dougall. The Fir Parkers attacked again but Lasley's shot was so wide the home side benefited from a throw. Referee Dougall then endeared himself to the home support by booking Panapoulos for a blatant dive as Leitch challenged in the midfield. In fact just a few minutes later Panapoulos should have been red carded for a deliberate trip as Lasley bore down on the home defence. The free kick was hit by Elliott to the back post but cleared for a throw.

For some reason the Motherwell midfield were strangely way behind play and there was an embarrassing period when Dunfermline passed the ball around without as much as a challenge going in. Dunfermline made their way to the penalty area and Panapoulos had the easiest of tasks setting up Bullen who shot narrowly over. The alarm bells should have been ringing but no one in the visiting ranks was listening for just a minute later Dunfermline took the lead. Hammel brought down Nicholson and the free kick was easily knocked in just inside the six-yard box by the unmarked Skerla. More slack defending then gave Crawford the chance to tee up Nicholson and he drove wide. A minute later another pot at goal, this time Crawford finding acres of room to angle a shot narrowly past the far post. Then Bullen beat Strong in the air though fortunately Woods was on hand to hold. Motherwell at last put together a move of note though Panapoulos was there to deny Hammel who hoped to meet the cross from Elliott.

Normal service soon resumed with Dunfermline easing their way forward, Crawford held the ball up for McPherson whose low drive was held by Woods. The Motherwell defence were again posted missing as Panapoulos beat Soloy on the by line and his cut back was somehow knocked wide by Bullen. Some rare good defending by Motherwell stopped a certain counter when Ready beat Crawford to the cross. Referee Dougall got it wrong again when he felt Pearson, who had won the ball clearly, had fouled Nicholson in midfield with Motherwell looking to go clear. Elliott was again fouled when he made a run out wide but once more there was no card, merely a free kick against Skerla. Just on the break McPherson got across well to prevent Elliott meeting McFadden's cross.

Half-time     Dunfermline  1     Motherwell  0

The Fir Parkers began as poorly as they had started the second half two weeks' previous, conceding an early corner. A combination of Ready and Soloy cleared this though soon after Woods had to rush from his goal to clear ahead of the speeding Bullen. It was, however, action replay time right enough as the homesters doubled their advantage not long into the half. Leitch lost possession in the middle allowing Mason to run away unchallenged and shoot from the edge of the box. It got from bad to worse for Leitch, as he was booked, somewhat harshly, for a challenge on Panapoulos who made the most of the fall. Motherwell had a welcome escape when Ready and Strong somehow managed to scramble McPherson's shot behind. The ball was curled in and only needed a slight touch but sailed out of play. Motherwell then brought on former Fulham man Dirk Lehman, signed initially until May, for Stephen Pearson.

However, before he had a chance to impress his teammates did little in that fashion by conceding a third. Sloppy defensive play allowed Crawford to find Panapoulos. He in turn supplied McPherson, and squaring the ball across an empty box Bullen had the easiest of tasks to score the third. Important defending from Thomson of Dunfermline prevented Lehman pulling one back and from the corner Lasley's effort was poor. A minute later it should have been four when Bullen missed an open goal with the follow-up from Panapoulus going inches past. It was Panapoulos last involvement as he was taken off and replaced by Nicholls. The Fir parkers were beginning to slowly come into the match and Leitch found McFadden but his effort troubled no one. Soloy then made way for Nicholas as Motherwell tried to attack more. A deliberate body-check by Petrie on Nicholas went unnoticed with Crawford bursting upfield though Ready stopped his progress with a good challenge. Deloumeaux then was there at the right time to make a superb clearance from Bullen, before Dunfermline took Petrie off in place of McGroarty. Motherwell's improvement in play paid dividends when the pulled a goal back on 77 minutes. Great play from Elliott and Lehman gave McFadden a chance and he needed no second invitation to knock the ball past Ruitenbeek at his near post. McFadden then was hauled down by McGorarty running towards goal though the card for the challenge failed to materialise. Young McFadden was causing all sorts of problems to the home defence and they took it in turns to foul, next was McPherson who unsurprisingly didn't see yellow.

Ruitenbeek punched clear giving Dunfermline the chance to break, but Woods did very well to come off his line and beat Crawford to a ball punted forward. Hammel then sent in a free kick which Lehman would have been disappointed to see Ruitenbeek save. With all the tackles flying in on McFadden from Dunfermline players going unpunished it was no surprise to see a Motherwell man carded next, Lasley for bringing down McGroarty though Referee Dougall's pointing to seven different areas of the fields was a joke to say the least. Terrific skill from McFadden saw him make space in the box and he was denied by the backside of Ruitenbeek, the ball rebounding out and being cleared for a corner which Lehman headed wide. With five minutes to go Motherwell had a stonewall penalty denied when McFadden was brought down by McGroarty just inside the box, the defender making no attempt to get the ball. Then Lehman clearly did not hand ball inside the box but again Dougall though otherwise and gave Dunfermline the breathing space. There was then no card for McPherson as, disappointed with a decisions for offside, he booted the ball away in temper. Dunfermline were still a threat on the break and Deloumeaux did well to block from McPhersons' cross. Right on full time Woods did superbly to block from Crawford. However, that was that and Motherwell slumped to another away reversal, though with a decent Referee it could have been an interesting last 10 minutes.

Full-time     Dunfermline Athletic  3     Motherwell  1

Match Report by Ricky Mullen

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