Motherwell battered by St.Johnstone

Match Preview

Motherwell vs St.Johnstone. 9th vs 8th. This was a must-win encounter for both sides, sitting on 28 points and 30 points respectively before Saturday's game. This would be the 4th time this season that these two sides had faced off in all competitions (and the 3rd at Fir Park!). The first of these meetings being a narrow 1-0 Motherwell victory, with an early Allan Campbell strike all that could separate these sides back in September. The next was a 1-1 draw at McDiarmid Park in November with a turgid affair, both goals coming from set-pieces within a 17 minute period. A week later these teams met again in the league cup in the round of 16, with a Watt goal putting Motherwell ahead until an inspired Michael O'halloran performance, where he provided two assists in 8 minutes, meant that the 'saints' would progress to the next round.

[Ali McCann and Allan Campbell earlier this season - Credit: Motherwell FC]

Both teams have had very similar seasons points-wise, with the 'Steelmen' playing a game less than their opponents on 28. Under new boss, Graham Alexander Motherwell had seemed to have had a change in fortune, although they came into Saturday off the back of an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to local Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton at home. Motherwell ideally needed a win to all but ensure survival, or at least put some healthy distance in between themselves and the bottom three to avoid being drawn into a relegation scrap.

St.Johnstone moved into this match on a rather good run of form, only tasting defeat on two occasions in their last 10 (1-0 away at Ibrox to Rangers and last weekend's 2-1 loss at home to Celtic) and the team looked full of newfound confidence. Davidson's side have been playing some excellent football and combining it with the end product which was sorely lacking at the beginning of the season, which has seen a slow and steady rise up the table from as low as 11th to now sitting pretty in 8th, leaving Dundee United and St Mirren looking over their shoulders.

[Mugabi and Wotherspoon challenge for the ball - Credit: Motherwell FC]

The Match

St. Johnstone were the team who started the match in control, with their high press and passing play opening up Motherwell numerous times in the early stages. The visitors maintained their control 19 minutes in with right back Rooney wading through the midfield to then tee up Melamed around 25 yards from goal. The Israeli took the ball in his stride and curled an effort into the far corner with his supposedly weaker left foot, past a helpless Kelly in the Motherwell goal. 1-0 to 'saints' thanks to a wonder strike from their number 17. Would the 'steelmen' prove their metal and overcome this early setback?

Midfield general Liam Polworth almost got the home side back on level terms, with a long-range effort firmly beaten away by Clark. However, Motherwell could not build on this attacking intent and again it was St.Johnstone who were rising up the field again. Northern Ireland international McCann went close from 18 yards but his effort went wide after some poor defending by the home side - a running theme throughout the match. In the 45th minute now and half time was approaching.

[Rooney heads the ball - Credit: @SNS]

Veteran Liam Craig picked the ball up and smashed a shot towards goal from distance, to his dismay it crashed off of the crossbar via a Kelly save. This then came back to Kane who nodded it onto Rooney (who was later shown to be narrowly offside) with the defender being known for his aerial ability of late, he then went and also smashed his header off of the crossbar. A scramble in the Motherwell box followed with some poor defending. The ball eventually broke to St.Johnstone captain Kerr on the edge of the box who made no mistake, rifling home at the third time of asking for the visitors.

2-0 and the referee blew his whistle for half-time, this was now an uphill battle for Motherwell who had only touched the ball in their opponent's box once all half. St.Johnstone must've been delighted with their first-half showing, putting them firmly in command of this contest. The home side spent a large portion of the opening 45 entrenched in their own 18-yard box.

Coming out into the second half and it was St.Johnstone who once again were on the offensive. Stalwart Wotherspoon had a pop at goal fizz past the post within moments of the restart. It was the 'saints' playmaker once again on the ball as a neat nutmeg found Kane in the box, which drew a foul from Polworth, his clumsy lunge giving referee John Beaton no choice but to award the visitors a penalty.

It was Melamed to step up from 12 yards out, facing off against Kelly. St.Johnstone's number 17 calmly slotted his penalty beyond the rasping arms of the Motherwell stopper into the bottom left corner of the net giving his side a 3-0 lead away from home. More sloppy defending from the men in gold and the fans must have been furious.

It was now apparent that this game was only going in one direction now, and at 3-0 up St.Johnstone appeared to have no plan of letting up. A marauding run down the right flank from Rooney resulted in the "Belshill Cafu" sending the ball into the box, after it was poorly dealtwith by their opponents back line, opposite full back Booth found himself with a chance to shoot, his effort from distance going close. More nice play from the Perth outfit as centre back McCart got himself involved in the action, a neat "Ronaldo chop" from him and then a sideways pass to Craig lead to the midfielder lashing a howitzer off of the bar, which I'm sure has left ir rattling ever since.

The game slowly fizzled out and a deserved St.Johnstone win was the result, with a Motherwell side devoid of creativity and leadership being trounced on their own patch for the second week running. In the end the homeside only mustered 1 shot in the full 90, with 5 touches in the opposition penalty box not good enough, Zander Clark was largely a spectator. St.Johnstone on the other hand were excellent and we saw their football at full flow and its devastating effect when it goes right, lots of top performers in the side. The manager said places were up for grabs for the cup final and it is safe to say they have left him with a happy selection headache. The visitors had 22 shots on goal in this contest and picking a man of the match was tricky, but Melamed just takes it for me. His goal was superb.

What This Means

This result keeps Motherwell firmly stuck in 9th place, luckily for them Kilmarnock went down 1-0 to Aberdeen to make it 9 'Killie' defeats on the bounce. The 'steelmen' remain 4 points above 10th place with a game in hand so survival should be relatively simple to secure, unless there is a late season collapse. The next 7 days are crucial for Alexander's outfit as they take on St. Mirren and Hibernian away from home in the coming week. Picking up some points in these games may be crucial in how the rest of the season pans out for the Lanarkshire outfit, and whether they will be dragged into a relegation dogfight or survive for another season comfortably.

For St.Johnstone this result all but confirms their survival (if it was ever really in doubt) and puts a health 5 point gap in between them and Saturdays opponents with top 6 surely the goal, even if there aren't too many games left before the split. Next up is the big one against Livingston in the Betfred Cup Final, in the biggest game of their season and Callum Davidson's managerial career to-date. This was probably the best possible way to go into next week's game and the team certainly look up for it. Slight negatives remain that Wotherspoon and Murray Davidson are both injury doubts for the trip to Hampden.