Match date : Saturday 11th April 1998 Competition : Premier League Attendance : 6,209
Motherwell scorer: Stefan Lindqvist (80).
SILKY SHIVUTE HELPS MOTHERWELL STING KILLIE
Motherwell 1 Kilmarnock 1SENSATIONAL ELIPHAS SHIVUTE Helped breathe life into a limp Motherwell performance at Fir Park on Saturday and earn his side a crucial point in the battle to avoid the drop. On as a second-half substitute, Shivute electrified the crowd with his excellent skill and power running which unfortunately did not yield a debut home goal for the Namibian International.
It was poor fare for the supporters of both clubs in the opening 45 minutes, played in intermittent snow and sunshine. Motherwell did see the better of the play in the opening 20 minutes or so, and had a couple of half-chances. Coyle could and should have done better with a header after Marshall fumbled a cross, then after Lauglan had completely miscued a through ball from Stevie McMillan, Marshall had to look sharp off his line to deny the predatory Tommy Coyne. The midfield battle was being won by the visitors and from this the platform for taking the lead was born. After Mitchell had seen his 20-yard shot deflected wide of goal, Kilmarnock took the lead just before the half-hour. Kerr's throw-in was flicked in the direction of Holt by Wright, and the former duly despatched an unstoppable shot beyond Stevie Woods for the opening goal, though Holt did have acres of room within which to steady himself. This failed to shake Motherwell into life, and in the run-up to half-time it was the visitors who were sharper to every ball and indeed looked like doubling their advantage. However, the closest Kilmarnock came was a free-kick in a great position 20 yards from goal just prior to the break which the Motherwell wall blocked with ease.
Half-Time Motherwell 0 Kilmarnock 1Determined to ensure Kilmarnock did not become the only Premier side to record four out of four wins over them in the season, Motherwell came out in the second half a transformed side. It was now Kilmarnock who were on the backfoot as Motherwell swept forward time and again only for some stout defending, bad luck or a poor final pass preventing the sides being level. Garcin met McMillan's free-kick but sent the ball well over the cross bar - this was to prove to be Garcin's only telling contribution to the match and he was replaced by Eliphas Shivute, which sent a buzz around the Motherwell support. Shivute began to impose himself, and almost setup Tommy Coyne for the equaliser. From Christie's throw-in, Shivute played a brilliant one-two in the box with Coyne, but the latter's attempted lob went well over with McCulloch well placed at the far post. Kilmarnock were reduced to breakaways, and from one Roberts' cross was met powerfully by Wright but the header was right at Woods. Back up the park and Shitvute was at it again. A seemingly inoccuous ball up the wing was chased by Kerr and Shivute, with Marshall racing from his goal. Despite giving each of his opponents several yards of a start, Shivute beat both to the ball but it rolled agonisingly inches past the post. Brian Martin then saw a header from Coyle's corner hit the post, then Lindqvist was inches away from his debut goal as the pressure on Kilmarnock mounted. The visitors broke away and Wright squandered a good opportunity by driving wide. However, as the clocked onto 80 minutes, the scoreboard clicked to 1-1. From Coyle's dangerous corner, the ball broke to Stefan Lindqvist in space on the right of the box, and his low shot sped into the back of the net. It looked like the homeside could now take all three points, and Coyle really hsould have done better than to pull his shot wide following Shivute's telling cross. It would have been an injustice had Kilmarnock won, but they almost snatched all three points as Veraille found himself one-on-one with Woods, but the Motherwell keeper produced a great block to deny the Frenchman.
FULL TIME Motherwell 1 Kilmarnock 1