Motherwell 2, Rangers 0

 

Match Date: Sunday, May 21 2000
Competition: Premier League
Attendance: 12,000

Motherwell Team:

Goram, Corrigan, Kemble, Strong, Hammell, Harvey (Twaddle 61), Valakari, Brannan, Adams, Spencer (Nevin), Goodman.
Subs not used: Woods, Nicholas, Townsley

Motherwell scorers: Twaddle (64), Spencer (71)

WELL HUMBLE CHAMPS BUT MISS OUT ON EUROPE 

Motherwell  2     Rangers  0

MOTHERWELL PRODUCED A PERFORMANCE OF Outstanding quality against the runaway League Champions but, due to Hibs inability to defeat their near neighbours Hearts, lost out in the race for the UEFA Cup berth. 

There was little to chose between the sides early on, the first free-kick of the game going in favour of the visitors after Kemble was rather harshly punished for a tackle on Ferguson. The ball came in but Don Goodman was on hand to clear downfield. Albertz was able to carry the ball up again but Harvey did well to break up the attack. Minutes later Numan headed towards the Motherwell box but good work from Strong and Goram ended any danger. A poor clearance by Klos almost presented an opportunity to Don Goodman but the ball just eluded the striker. Rangers broke upfield with Albertz though his pass through was easily collected by Goram. Motherwell were given a free-kick some 30 yards out when Paul Harvey was brought down by Porrini. The ball was curled in beautifully by Brannan to the back post where Greg Strong rose above Numan to head home what looked a perfectly good goal. However, replacement whistler McCurry thought otherwise and awarded the visitors a free-kick for the merest of touches by Strong, though it judging by the lack of complaints none of the visitors were in agreement. Two minutes later Motherwell had a strong penalty claim turned down when Adams was fouled by Albertz inside the box, Vidmar making the clearance for the corner. Ged Brannan was able to hook the ball back in when it was nodded clear but Klos was on hand to gather. Brannan was in action soon after when John Spencer showed great awareness to send the Motherwell midfielder clear on Klos. Upon reaching the 18-yard-box Brannan opted to shoot low and Klos made a comfortable save, though Van Bronkhorst with a late challenge appeared to put Brannan off. Ferguson was then lucky to escape a card for a crude, late and high challenge onPaul Harvey. A run forward by Albertz saw him lay the ball off for Rozenthal and although he turned well on the edge of the box he was only able to pick out the letter O in the sponsors name high above the crowd. Seconds later Rangers took of Johansson, apparently due to nothing other than having a poor match (or words to that extent), and replaced him with McCann. The games first booking came on 26 minutes when Porinni was carded for a late tackle on Spencer, though Numan was fortunate just a second earlier when he was late as Valakari had released the pass. Goodman got in a header across the box but the alert Porinni stopped Spencer from getting in a shot. Motherwell kept in with Goodman bursting clear on the edge of the box though his shot was parried by Klos and held at the second attempt. Rangers had rarely been seen in an attacking mode but just before the half-hour it took a great tip round the post from Goram to deny Albertz low shot. As the corner came in Adams immediately knocked the ball behind again though a shout from a team-mate would have alerted him to the lack of danger. A minute later Kanchelskis passed up a great opportunity when the ball broke to him 16 yards out but he could only hit the ball towards the Main Stand and the ball was hooked away. Motherwell had the ball in the net again when Goodman flicked forward to Spencer, the striker looking at worst level and he finished only for the flag to deny him. Clever work by Martyn Corrigan set up Spencer and he turned well to hook a shot just over the bar with Klos struggling to get across. An error by Ferguson then saw Harvey race in and his chip over Klos went narrowly past. A tussle five minutes from the interval between Adams and Ferguson saw the pair booked, and some unnecessary verbals from Numan also earned him a yellow card and indeed he was lucky not to see red. Rangers got the verdict of the free-kick with Rozenthal sending a cross right along the middle of the box and out of play on the far side. Motherwell attacked, Goodman crossed for Spencer to flick on but the visiting goal survived as the ball fell just behind Adams and Numan cleared. Kanchelskis was sloppy with a defensive pass giving Hammel the opportunity to cross low, the ball ending up in the grateful arms of Klos with Spencer just an inch away. Just on the interval another Motherwell penalty claim went unnoticed as Spencer looked to have been brought down by Vidmar.

Half-Time     Motherwell  0     Rangers  0

Right from the kick-off Motherwell pushed forward again. Goodman made a forceful run to the edge of the box but a crucial delay in releasing the ball to Spencer allowed the Rangers defence to get the ball away. Ged Brannan then had a chance when the ball broke to him on the edge of the box but his weak effort failed to worry Klos, the break coming after Goodman had stumbled when in with a chance. Rozenthal was lucky not to be booked for a blatant dive in the box as Kemble made a great clearance. Brannan passed forward for Goodman, and his through ball to Spencer saw the striker well on-side and he scored with ease, though off-side was again given, this time against Adams who was hardly in a position to influence play at the other side of the park running back. Kanchelskis was having tough time against young Stevie Hammel but for once he managed to evade the defender. Whipping in a cross Rozenthal mis-hit the ball in a good position allowing Strong to clear. Van Bronkhorst the brought down Brannan as he ran towards the box though play was waved on and only stopped when Kanchelskis fell under minimal pressure from Valakari. On the hour mark Spencer saw a terrific turn and shot blocked desperately by Vidmar for a corner. Greg Strong headed towards goal but the ball struck Porinni and went for a corner just beyond the outstretched leg of Goodman. A minute later Harvey made way for Kevin Twaddle. A short clearance by Corrigan then gave Kanchelskis a chance but his effort went way wide. With 25 minutes to go Motherwell deservedly took the lead. Benito Kemble made a great pass through the middle from defence to send Twaddle clear, and as he outpaced Porinni the winger calmly slotted beyond Klos from the edge of the box to send the Motherwell fans wild with delight. Sixty seconds later only a despairing pull by Vidmar on Twaddle stopped him running clear again, the Australian lucky to only receive a yellow despite looking like last man. Vidmar then made an error to give Goodman the chance to make the bye-line but a poor cut-back allowed the defender to recover. Rangers then removed Kanchelskis in favour of Wallace. John Spencer was next to see yellow when he was booked for a series of fouls on Porrini out wide. McCann connected with the cross but he was well off-side as he managed to hit the bar from a yard out. Motherwell made safe the three points with another tidy finish on 71 minutes. Goram's kick-out was flicked on by the heads of Goodman and Twaddle, with Spencer able to shrug off the challenge of Vidmar and shoot behind Klos. This goal ignited the Motherwell support who joined the players in wild celebrations. A minute later Motherwell had a clear hand-ball against Vidmar not given after Twaddle had turned to shoot from 18 yards. Rangers made another sub with Ferguson going off to a chorus of boos to be replaced by Kerimoglu. Wallace's first contribution was to hack down Brannan but there was no card for the reckless challenge. The sprightly Pat Nevin almost got in on the scoresheet when he turned Vidmar to chip just over. With 12 minutes to go Van Bronkhorst burst forward from the middle to fire low from20 yards with Goram getting down well to hold. Rangers then attacked again with Albertz managing to shoot from 18 yards though again Goram held the effort. Seconds later Van Bronkhorst appeared to win the ball rather unfarily from Twaddle but with no whistle carried on to shoot way over. Don Goodman raced to the bye-line but the cut-back was blocked by Vidmar and hooked away. Rangers burst upfield and won a corner which was blasted wide by Wallace. The craft of Nevin then gave Adams a chance but he was well challenged by Porrini with Klos picking the ball up. Rozenthal had a glaring miss from 12 yards as the ball fell to him in space, the ball ending up in the outer limits. With time running out Kerimoglu saw a shot fall inches past the far post, but that was as close as the visitors were going to get. With the news from Tynecastle that Hearts had won it meant the sweetness of a win over the Champions was tinged with some sadness, though no-one could deny the worthy victors their chance to smile.

FULL-TIME  Motherwell  2     Rangers  0

Match Report by Ricky Mullen (rmullen@motherwell.co.uk)