Motherwell 0, Hearts 2

Match Date: Monday, March 5 2007
Competition: Scottish Premier League
Attendance: 4,389.
Motherwell Team (4-4-2):

Graeme Smith, Corrigan, Craigan, Reynolds, Murphy (Molloy 63), Darren Smith, Kerr (McBride 45), Vadocz, Paterson, McCormack, Clarkson.
Subs not used: Martin, Quinn, Keegan, Fitzpatrick, McGarry.

Booked: Kerr, Craigan, Corrigan, McCormack.

TOP SIX CHASE TAKES A DOWNTURN

Motherwell  0     Hearts  2

DESPITE A vastly improved performance, Motherwell lost to the visitors despite being the better of the teams and deserving at least something in difficult conditions. 

An early long ball from Murphy, aimed towards McCormack, looked like reaching its target but the ball skipped through to Gordon on a racy turf. Former Fir Parker Elliott looked to have raised an elbow on Craigan but Referee Dougal declared that the Motherwell man had fouled. Jankauskas flicked on though Craigan was on hand to clear. Berra then fouled McCormack to concede a free kick. Kerr was blocked but the ball broke to McCormack, though he too saw his route to goal denied. A forward ball from Tall picked out Elliott and his header for Jankauskas was well defended by the alert Murphy. Jankauskas then went down easily under a challenge from Murphy and was awarded a free kick, though the take from Kingston went straight through to Smith. Motherwell gained a free kick when Wallace took down Smith. Cleared, Smith returned the ball from a Kerr pass but saw Jankauskas back helping to defend. The game’s first booking came when the Referee deemed a foul by Kerr on Kingston, hardly worthy of a foul itself, bookable. Again, Kingston’s free kick went right through to Smith in goals. Motherwell had a second player booked when Craigan was booked, again a very soft card, for a foul on Elliott, the former Motherwell man having put himself about rather heavily without the Referee taking any action thus far. The defence cleared, and as Clarkson gathered he was flattened by Ivaskevicius who immediately saw yellow. Craigan sent a ball forward to Paterson but Zaliukas found Gordon. Hearts fired in a couple of shots, but both, from Elliott and then Phlebitis, troubled no one. Motherwell really should have taken the lead shortly afterwards. Murphy’s superb forward ball found Paterson and, clear on Gordon with Smith to his side, he chose to try and round the Scotland keeper and a touch took the ball back onto Paterson and behind. A slip to Smith would have seen Motherwell take the lead. The response from Hearts was an Elliott flick to Pilibaitis who chipped in though Craigan cleared. Clarkson then forced a corner. Cleared as far as Vadocz, his chip towards McCormack but the ball fizzed off the turf to go behind. Tall should have been booked for a tackle on McCormack who recovered after treatment. A superb ball forward from Paterson picked out McCormack inside the box but the striker failed to control the ball as it flew towards him. Tall again fouled, this time Paterson, and again there was no card. Hearts gathered possession from the free kick and broke forward to win a corner. This fell to Kingston though Craigan was there to deny him. Shortly after Driver had shot blocked by Smith, Hearts forced a corner. Motherwell failed to defend this, and Tall saw his header flick off Reynolds before falling beyond Smith to open the scoring. Motherwell replied with a well-worked move. McCormack and Clarkson combined to supply Smith but his shot was held by Gordon. A third Motherwell defender was booked when Martyn Corrigan saw yellow after a tackle on Driver, though it again was somewhat harsh. Paterson sent the ball forward towards McCormack and a slip from Berra almost produced a corner, though Gordon was on hand to concede a throw. Elliott then took a dive over the outstretched foot of Vadocz but the Referee waved play on. Motherwell were given a late opportunity to level before the break when Wallace brought down Smith, though Murphy’s take was too strong.

Half Time     Motherwell  0     Hearts  1

Both sides made changes at the break, Motherwell replacing the injured Kerr with Kevin McBride, whilst the visitors replaced Jankauskas with Pospisil. The latter had the first chance after the restart, blasting a Kingston pass well wide. The Motherwell reply was a McCormack header, which Gordon held after a ball in from Smith. Another dive, this time from Ivaskevicius, again went unnoticed by the Linesman despite his good positioning. Terrific attacking play from Smith took him to the by line but the great ball in saw Clarkson fail to control and the chance was gone. Motherwell claimed a penalty when Clarkson was bundled over by Berra inside the box, though the Referee declared that the Motherwell man had used an arm to control the ball, though this was somewhat impossible given the nature of the challenge on him. Ivaskevicius then escaped a yellow card when he blatantly tripped Vadocz as he broke forward. The Motherwell midfielder had visions of his first goal in claret and amber when space opened up inside the box soon after, but the angled effort was held by Gordon in goals. A slip from Murphy on the wet surface allowed Hearts to break forward, Elliott breaking and supplying but both he and Ivaskevicius were crowded out. Once more the Referee failed to produce a tallow card when Berra, who had committed several fouls prior to this one, pulled the shirt of Clarkson as he burst upfield. Good play from McCormack saw him turn well on the by line but his low cross was plucked out of the air by Gordon. Motherwell pushed forward and forced successive corners. From the second, only a goal-line clearance from Kingston, hooking a Clarkson header away, denied the Fir Parkers deservedly levelling. Kingston then fouled McBride to concede a free kick some 30 yards from goal. McCormack took but couldn’t beat the wall. The ball was returned but Zaliukas saw a header fall to Gordon. Motherwell pushed Hearts back to win another corner but Zaliukas headed away. Much to the amusement of the Motherwell support Elliott then fired wildly over after being set up Pospisil. Motherwell were forced into a change when Murphy limped off to be replaced by Trevor Molloy. Shortly after McCormack had fired over 20 yards out, Hearts replaced Ivaskevicius with Jonsson. Seconds later, and completely against the run of play, Hearts took a rather undeserved two-goal lead. Kingston fired in a cross from near the corner flag and Craigan, stretching to beat Elliott to the ball, inadvertently headed beyond Smith and in off the bar. It was hard on Motherwell, and they tried to hit back with a McCormack effort which went over. Elliott was lucky not to see a straight red for a nasty tackle on Craigan, seeing yellow instead. The linesman made a huge blunder when he flagged Clarkson offside as he raced onto a Zaliukas header back. Another corner was won by Motherwell but the visitors defended. Getting in on the attacking act was Martyn Corrigan but his 25-yard shot was wide. Pilibaitis saw yellow for a late tackle on Molloy, with Hearts then changing Tall for Kancelsku. The sides exchanged corners, but Motherwell still were the team most interested in attacking. Elliott carried on through Smith as the Motherwell keeper gathered a through ball, but the Referee chose to wave play on. Clarkson had a great chance to pull a goal back when McCormack set him up but he crucially delayed and the chance went a-begging with a corner the consolation prize. An error by Gordon saw the ball drop inside the box but the luck was with the visitors as Zaliukas cleared. A neat one-two between Clarkson and Smith opened up the visiting defence though Zaliukas recovered to concede a corner. Again, Kingston rescued his side, clearing a net-bound Reynolds effort off the line. Vadocz found McCormack but his effort was charged behind. The ball was cleared but as it returned Gordon took an absolute age to gather, more or less inviting a challenge from McCormack for which he was booked. Gordon himself saw yellow soon after when he deliberately wasted time. Clarkson flicked the ball onto McCormack shortly afterwards but he was fouled, as Berra was again late. This came to nothing, as did another late free kick when this time Kingston was late on Smith. Hearts broke away with Driver running clear but, with only Smith to beat, his tame chip was clutched by the Motherwell keeper.

Full Time     Motherwell  0     Hearts  2

Match Report by Ricky Mullen

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