OH NO JOE 1-0
Moult worth weight in goals as Lewis has a night to forget
MOTHERWELL stood firm in the face of Aberdeen wafting money under their noses during the transfer window.
Less than a month on they now stand proudly in the semi-final of the Betfred Cup thanks to that decision to stand by their man – and three howlers from Dons keeper Joe Lewis.
It would have been easy for the Fir Park club to take the money and run when the Pittodrie side tabled a second improved bid of £350,000 for their star striker Louis Moult.
After all, with the hitman having just rejected a new contract offer they were – and still are – staring at the prospect of losing him for nothing at the end of this season.
But with the simple judgement that Moult’s worth is measured by his weight in goals rather than gold, the club’s bosses backed boss Stephen Robinson and knocked back the offers for his key man. Today, they’ll be counting a lot more than their blessings as TV revenue for booking their place in the last four is expected to net the club almost as much as the sum they knocked back in the first place.
His two goals – a stunning 13th minute overhead kick that was aided by Lewis’ slow reactions and Well’s killer third five minutes from time – showed precisely why Derek McInnes wanted him in the first place.
That defender Peter Hartley got his goal for the club was one of many impressive cameos in a Fir Park supershow utterly hogged by a striker who is fast beginning to take on God-like status among the Steelmen.
With Motherwell brimming with confidence after three wins and a draw in their last four games and a Dons side brimming with attacking talent, this always had the hallmarks of a cracking cup tie.
So it was no surprise that within 10 minutes the Dons created a good chance that could easily have got this game off to a flyer.
Kenny McLean, bursting out of midfield without anyone really asking questions of him, quite rightly decided to go for goal himself. His low shot was palmed away by Trevor Carson and Gary Mackay-Steven will curse his failure to keep down the rebound with his first-time follow up.
He’d regret it even more within five minutes as Motherwell forged ahead with a 13th-minute stunner.
Ryan Bowman gamely tried to edge past Mark Reynolds but you’ve got to have some serious pace to strip that particular defensive whippet.
Realising he wasn’t getting past him, Bowman simply challenged him for the first touch and it screwed upwards towards head height, where Moult was winding himself up for a remarkable piece of quick-witted improvisation.
Launching into a spectacular overfirst
head kick, the in-form hitman caught keeper Lewis completely by surprise as his sixth goal in five games crossed the line.
Talk about rubbing salt in a guy’s wounds, as McInnes stood in the away dugout shaking his head.
Just six minutes later he’d have had that head in his hands as Well extended their lead– and it was another one that Lewis will not want to see again.
But he’s far from the only guilty party when the Dons post-match inquest investigates how Hartley was given space to rise head and shoulders above the rest to nod down Steven Hammell’s searching free-kick.
Aberdeen laboured to find a foothold in a flooded midfield and soon McInnes decided he’d seen enough of his side struggling to find an outlet in lone frontman Stevie May.
The tousle-haired target man needed support and Mackay-Steven was to be the sacrifice, making way after just 37 minutes to let Adam Rooney on to tag-team May up top.
It worked to some extent in easing the pressure on their squeezed midfield but still it was Motherwell who looked the likelier to score in a first half that thrilled the home fans.
The Steelmen picked up where they left off after the restart as Moult spun on to Hammell’s cutback to unleash a vicious first-time rocket from his right boot. But this time Lewis went some way to redeeming his early errors by producing an excellent fingertip save.
At the other end Rooney’s clever movement wriggled him breathing space to test Carson with a low shot – and send a timely reminder that at 2-0 the home side could not afford to rest on their laurels.
But it still wasn’t enough from Aberdeen and McInnes – perhaps fearing more punishment from Moult – turned to his bench again just seven minutes into the break. This time it was Reynolds making way in a straight swap with Kari Arnason in an effort to stifle Well’s target man.
Yet Well still kept coming and in 65 minutes Graeme Shinnie had to save his side from conceding a killer third goal, sweeping off the line to deny Hartley his second of the night.
What a huge let off for the visitors and they knew it, suddenly jolted into action to seek a lifeline before all was lost.
Ryan Christie nearly provided it too, storming forward on his own from deep to let rip a deadly dipping drive from 25 yards out that Carson tipped over.
There was an even closer call at the other end in the 74th minute when Well wide man Allan Campbell cut inside to rap low raking effort across Lewis, then watched in bemusement as it clipped the inside of the far post then cannoned across goal to clip the other upright.
How that stayed out, the youngster will never know but the longer Well went without killing off Dons once and for all, the more the visitors edged themselves forward knowing they had nothing to lose.
Taking off defensive midfielder Dominic Ball for Greg Tansey was McInnes’ final declaration that it was time for his side to go all out for it.
That left gaps at the back, which Moult was all too happy to exploit five minutes from time, breaking out on his solo dash for goal.
With only the keeper to beat you’d have stuck your mortgage on him tucking it away. Lewis, again, could have done better but the rasping finish inside the front post was as powerful as it was pinpoint.