Match date : Saturday 1st November 1997 Competition : Premier League Attendance : 4,566
'WELL DENIED BY BLUNDERING ROWBOTHAM
St Johnstone 4 Motherwell 3NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME Referee John Rowbotham denied Motherwell as they performed a stirring comeback from four goals down only to fall just short at the final whistle. Fir Park fans still recall how Rowbotham failed to award Motherwell a goal at Tynecastle last December, and at Perth on Saturday he chose to ignore clear penalty offence which would have surely given Motherwell a deserved point.
Motherwell gave a debut to French midfielder Eric Gracin, and he setteld in very quickly with his excellent distribution causing the Perth team some problems. In a largely disappionting first-half for the men in claret and amber, they created few real chances and looked out of sorts as Saint Johnstone were able to stroll into a two-goal lead thanks to some gift-wrapped defending. In 18 minutes, after a bright opening by Motherwell, the Perth men were awarded a rather soft free-kick 25 yards from goal. Tosh curled in, and there was Kernighan to drill home with a header as the Motherwell defence floundered. Namibian Internationalist Eliphas Shivute, on from the start after his great performance against Aberdeen a week ago, wasn't given the time or space to perform, though on the couple of occasions he did get away the ball appeared to gather pace and run away from him, or there was no movement and the attack broke down. Indeed, Motherwell's first-half perfomrance was summed-up when Shivute, showing some great trickery, broke into the box, set himself up for a cross, then missed his kick completely. 12 Minutes before the interval Saint Johnstone doubled their lead, and it was some poor defending which allowed them to score. Gunni Johnnson, attempting to play his way to a permanent contract with Motherwell, played a pass out of defence against the legs of John O'Neill, and he needed no invitiation to accept the re-bound and hammer it home as Johnnson held his head in his hands. Johnnson was perhaps a shade unlucky in that the ball rebounded directly in front of the quickest man on the park, but the area he was passing the ball into was dangerous. Two-down at the interval the Motherwell side were booed off the park by the long-suffering travelling support who must have been wishing they too had the 'flu Manager Alex McLeish nursing at home.
Half-Time Saint Johnstone 2 Motherwell 0The real controversey began in the second-half, and it was only four minutes old when the Saintees were awarded a dubious penalty after Johnnson and Grant tangled at the edge of the box. From behind the goal it was obvious that Grant handled the ball then fell on to it, fooling Rowbotham into awarding an undeserved spot-kick. Grant didn't argue, and although Woods almost saved, the ball hit the back of the net. As if to attempt to atone for his blunder, Rowbotham then awarded Motherwell a soft penalty when Billy Davies was tackled by Griffin. There was some contact though, and the normally reliable Tommy Coyne stepped up to attempt to drag Motherwell back into the match. However, Main in the Saint Johnstone goal pulled off a great save low to his right to deny Coyne. Motherwell fell further behind on the hour-mark as more shocking defending allowed John O'Neill to score his second of the match. This ironically appeared to be the catalyst to a Motherwell fight-back, and less than a minute later Motherwell got their second penalty of the match. Kernighan cleraly handled Tommy Coyne's cross, and John Hendry, on for the now-departed Johnnson, slammed home, despite some crass stupidity by Main as he vainly attempted to put Hendry off with his clown antics. Motherwell swept forward, and within five minutes had scored a second. Stevie McMillan played a pass into the box which Coyne beat Main to. Coyne turned, Main could only palm his cross over the head of Shivute, and there was Billy Davies to head home at the far post. Saint Johnstone were clearly becoming nervous, and it was no surprise when the Fir Park side scored again six minutes later. Billy Davies curled in a short corner which Owen Coyle, who had replaced Hendry, expertly headed in to the far corner of the net. Some extremely desperate defending managed to keep the now rampant Motherwell side from equalising, though Woods had to look sharp as he saved well at the feet of Grant during a rare Perth breakaway. With time running out, the tired Gracin was replaced by Valakari, and Motherwell put in one last effort. Tommy Coyne, a constant thorn in the Perth defence all match, was clearly barged over by Kernighan in the box, and a penalty was surely the only decision to make. However, much to the amazement of the Motherwell team and supporters, Rowbotham decided to ignore the cast-iron foul and waved play-on. Soon after he blew the whistle on an astonishing match, and though Motherwell have now lost five league games time in-a-row, if they carry the spirit of the last thirty minutes forward into their future league matches, they will climb clear of the basement of the Premier League.
Full-Time Saint Johnstone 4 Motherwell 3