Match date : Tuesday 27th January 1998 Competition : Scottish Cup 3rd Round Replay Attendance : 4,204
Scottish Cup Third Round Replay
LUCKY MOTHERWELL DOWN BRAVE SONS
Motherwell 1 Dumbarton 0THIRD-DIVISION DUMBARTON produced the performance of their lives to give Motherwell a huge scare in this Cup Third Round Replay at a frosty Fir Park. The Sons, thirty places below Motherwell in the League pecking order, outplayed and out-thought their more illustrious opponents for lengthy periods and can count themselves unlucky not to have taken the tie at least to extra-time.
If Motherwell dominated proceedings at Boghead in the first match, then Dumbarton were on top in this Replay. The initial play though took place in the away half of the field, though there was little for Meechin in goals to worry about. A Mickey Weir header then another from Tommy Coyne failed to trouble Saturday's hero, though Owen Coyle almost sneaked the breakthrough when his lob from well outside the area was clutched under the bar by Meechan. Dumbarton broke free of they early Motherwell pressure to almost snatch the lead on 13 minutes when Stevie Woods produced a good save Jim Meechan's drive, then three minutes later the visitors came even closer. Woods on this occasion was badly caught out of position on the edge of the box, allowing McKinnon to head over the keeper and send in a high cross. As Meechan and Martin challenged, the ball broke to Flannery 18 yards out, and his drive looked goal-bound until Eddie May hooked the ball away inches from the line. The Motherwell support were growing restless as Dumbarton began to look more and more menacing, with the Fir Parkers unable to put any cohesion into their attacks. This was summed up perfectly when Weir and McMillan managed to run out a corner by leaving the ball to each other . Woods made up for his earlier indiscrection by saving Mooney's well-struck free-kick low to his left. As the interval approached it was Motherwell who attempted to regain their earlier grip on the match, but with the Dumbarton defence well-organised the home side were restricted to long-range shooting, none of which looked like troubling Meechin in goals. As the players trooped off at the interval, the Motherwell support left their favouries in no doubt as to how they viewed their performance.
Half-Time Motherwell 0 Dumbarton 0Motherwell came out in the second-half in determined mood to fininsh Dumbarton off, though their possession was let down by a poor final ball. Former Sons favourite Owen Coyle almost made the breakthrough on 52 minutes when Woods clearance fell invitingly for Coyle to volley but there was Bruce to clear from almost on the goal-line for a corner. Mooney was then booked for pulling back Lee McCulloch as the young striker bore down on goal, though quite how the Dumbarton defender remained on the park was a mystery as despite not being the last man he had prevented McCulloch from progressing in what was a clear goal-scoring position. The resulting free-kick was unproductive as McMillan's effort sailed wide. Dumbarton's best period of the match then followed, and they attacked at will as Motherwell became more and more nervous as the clock ticked on. Sharp forced Woods to tip a lob over the bar, and the same player was inches away as Woods collected a Flannery through-ball. Newman then produced an uncharateristic mistake when his attempted clearance was spooned inches over the cross-bar with Woods stranded. The boos were now regular and with some verocity as the home support furiously voiced their displeasure at seeing their Premier League heroes being humbled by a team of part-time players. However, with the introduction of Dougie Arnott the game took a swing back towards Motherwell. Rob Newman took a free-kick, Arnott head-flicked on, and there was Coyle at the back post in splendid isolation to roll the ball home just before Meechan got back. It was more a cheer of relief than joy that rang round Fir Park, but the game was far from secure. Soon after, though, Tommy Coyne passed up a great opportunity to settle the tie when, clean through on Meechan, he opted to delay his shot then try to curl the ball beyond the Dumbarton stopper. By this time two defenders had got back to assist their keeper in blocking the effort, though Coyne would have been better to have knocked the ball sideways to the unmarked Arnott who would have scored with ease. This almost came back to haunt Motherwell as Dumbarton almost took the tie into overtime. Firstly, a good move saw the ball arrive at Ward's feet inside the box, he adjusted his position before rifling a 20-yarder which smacked the outside of the post, though Woods looked to have it covered. With time running out, McKinnon's flying header was brilliantly parried round the post by Woods. After two-and-a-half minutes' injury time Referee Tait brought the game to a close, and after the Motherwell support booed their team off the park hundreds stayed on to applaud gallant Dumbarton, whose players reciprocated in kind.
FINAL SCORE MOTHERWELL 1 DUMBARTON 0