Motherwell 0, Aberdeen 1
| Match Date: Saturday, March 8 2003 |
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| Competition: Scottish Premier League | |
| Attendance: 5,636 | |
| Motherwell Team (4-4-2): |
Dubourdeau, Corrigan, Vaughan, Partridge, Ramsay (Craig 87),
Fagan, Lasley (Lehmann 59), Pearson, Hammell, McFadden, Clarkson (Offiong 73).
Subs not used: Woods, Cowan
Booked: Lehmann, Partridge.
Sent off: Pearson.
WELL THAT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH
Motherwell 0 Aberdeen 1
MOTHERWELL SLUMPED TO A NASTY DEFEAT At Fir Park as they produced perhaps their worst performance of the season. An early penalty for the visitors couldn't be leveled and to compound matters Stevie Pearson was sent off for a moment of rashness.
Straight from kick-off Motherwell won a corner when Anderson was woefully wide with a header back to his keeper. Hammel swung it in but Vaughan's header was over the top. The visitors responded with an Anderson long ball, which bounced over Vaughan, but Partridge recovered the ball ahead of Young. Aberdeen came even closer a moment or two later when Young found D'Jaffo and his low shot was superbly turned round the post by Dubordeau. However, from the corner Partridge bundled McGuire to the ground and the Referee pointed to the spot. Sheerin took the spot kick to put his side ahead. There was an early booking for Darren Young when he went right through McFadden as the youngster tried to work the ball forward. Motherwell tried to strike back and Fagan's chip in beat Hart only for McAllister to hook away as Lasley was waiting. Some lovely skill from Pearson left Anderson flailing and the cross was headed over from just underneath his own bar by McAllister. The young visiting full back then almost had a chance at the other end but Partridge got in a block to prevent him. McFadden showed next though after beating three defenders the ball ran just ahead into the arms of Kjaer.
The visitors attacked though Partridge was on hand to stop Sheerin troubling Dubordeau. Young was treading thin ice when, after already seeing yellow, he repeated his earlier rash challenge on McFadden but escaped. And Anderson did likewise on Clarkson but again Referee McDonald decided not to produce a card. Moments later Anderson again caught Clarkson but play was waved on, the Motherwell striker recovering after treatment. When play resumed Clark burst down the wing and slipped past Ramsay but the cross was cleared by Partridge. McFadden's skilful run the won a corner which, cleared only as far as Fagan, was returned via a deflection but into the arms of Kjaer. Referee McDonald blundered when, after the linesman had correctly indicated Tosh had headed behind he awarded Aberdeen free kick at the corner flag. However, Dubordeau was on hand to collect under pressure. As the break approached Motherwell pushed upfield. McFadden gathered a loose ball and fired in a fierce 25 yarder which Kjaer just managed to push behind. Cleared only as far as Lasley he was inches away with a clever curled shot from outside the box. And seconds before the interval Sheerin made a quite awful challenge which, had it connected, McFadden would have been lucky to recover. Referee McDonald chose only to award a free kick on the halfway line.
Half-Time Motherwell 0 Aberdeen 1
The visitors made a quick change, D'Jaffo replaced by Hinds. An early free kick conceded by Ramsay was cleared by Corrigan. From the through Vaughan was fouled and from that free kick Lasley was brought down by McAllister on the edge of the box but somehow the visitors got the nod. A neat flick from Fagan in Motherwell's next attack presented Clarkson with a chance but he could only drive the ball a foot or two wide of the mark. Aberdeen got a free kick when Vaughan was adjudged to have fouled Clark. As the free kick came in Lasley was bundled away by McAllister and Motherwell got possession back. Lasley was then under pressure from Clark but did well to get out of trouble. The ball went forward and McFadden was only beaten by some clever defending from Anderson. Motherwell's first change came when Lasley made way for Lehmann to boost the striking options. Just after the hour some desperate defending from Aberdeen kept the scoreline negative for Motherwell. A great piece of skill from Fagan took him to the by line and a low cut back fell for Pearson. His low shot looked destined for the net until Young somehow managed to block and clear. Clark was next to see yellow and again it was for a foul on McFadden. There should have been yellow for Anderson when he blatantly pushed Clarkson but despite Referee McDonald pointing to several areas of the pitch during his lecture he chose not to book. McFadden then forced another corner which the Aberdeen defence again desperately cleared. Motherwell then made another change, Offiong replacing Clarkson. Seconds after McFadden had a turn and shot saved Motherwell had a fair shout for a penalty ignored. Offiong ghosted past McAllister inside the box and was clearly checked by the Aberdeen full back yet neither the linesman nor the Referee spotted the offence. The visitors then made a change with Young replaced by Mackie. They also won a corner when Clark's cross fell to Tosh and the shot was blocked behind by Vaughan. A minute later Tosh took advantage of a loose defensive pass to race to the by line but his angled effort was blocked by Dubordeau. Referee McDonald was having another abysmal game and he added to his poor performance when he gave Aberdeen a free kick inside their own box when McGuire dramatically tumbled as he fell over McFadden thereby ending the pressure. He then chose to book Lehmann for his first foul, a trip on Mackie. Continuing with his inconsistent performance Referee McDonald then waved play on when McFadden was similarly fouled by McGuire. And McGuire was at it again, bringing down Lehmann though at least this time a free kick was awarded. Taken by McFadden the visiting keeper made a superb save, gathering at the second attempt. Fagan went crashing to the ground when Tosh clambered all over him though the free kick was wasted.
As Motherwell pushed up Aberdeen broke forward with Mackie making a run into the box and as Dubordeau hesitated Vaughan came across to block for a corner, with Vaughan and Dubordeau confronting each other in a nasty incident. With a minute of normal time to go McFadden sent Lehmann into the striker was clearly held back by McAllister. For the second time in the match the Aberdeen defender escaped as again neither the Linesman nor the Referee had an eye on the action. Just as 5 minutes of injury time was shown, a product of the visitors' blatant time-wasting tactics, Motherwell took of Ramsay in place of Craig. Mackie was shown yellow when he was late on Partridge, and a minute later Partridge was mystified to see yellow and only Referee McDonald knows why. In the last minute a foul by Young on Pearson went unpunished and the Motherwell man decided to take action into his own hands by clattering the visiting player back. Players have been only cautioned before but Referee McDonald showed a yellow then a red causing consternation amongst the home players as Pearson had not been booked. Later, the Referee claimed the cards had been stuck together though he had no problem producing the yellow at the time. Sheerin was also booked just as time ran out.
Full time Motherwell 0 Aberdeen 1
Match Report by Ricky Mullen