COOL... CAM COLLECTED AND
Two-goal Well ace Allan seals vital 3 points
ALLAN CAMPBELL hammered a deadly double to shatter Motherwell’s eight-game winless streak.
The build-up to this encounter was dominated by the return of David Turnbull from his horror knee injury but it was another homegrown Well hero who stole the show as Campbell drove the Steelmen’s fightback after losing an early goal.
Dubbed the ‘Lanarkshire Kante’ by the home support, the 21-year-old bossed the middle of the park in a fashion Chelsea’s French star would have been proud of and netted the crucial second and third goals before sub Tony Watt put the seal on a deserved win.
Well boss Stephen Robinson had vowed to repay his board and fans for their loyalty during his court case for which he was cleared on Friday.
And his side made the perfect start to that as they picked up a first three points since their 1-0 win at Aberdeen six weeks ago to tee them up for next week’s meeting with the Dons in the race for third spot.
Yet they had it all to do after making the worst of starts.
County blasted out the traps to go ahead when former Well man Lee Erwin’s corner from the right found the late run of Liam Fontaine who volleyed past Mark Gillespie from eight yards.
But Robinson’s side got the leveller in 17 minutes.
Rolando Aarons’ free-kick was deflected for a corner from which Liam Polworth’s delivery was headed back across goal by Peter Hartley allowing Mark O’Hara to slam home.
And Campbell made no mistake to hand Well the lead after 25 minutes when he pounced on a rebound to fire past County keeper Ross Laidlaw after Jermaine Hylton’s effort struck the bar.
The Scotland Under-21 star scored in the previous meeting of these sides at Fir Park and was a bundle of energy in the middle of the park alongside Polworth.
The industry of Chris Long in attack and the movement of Hylton and Aarons must have pleased Robinson after the bad start.
Campbell had been shortlisted in the matchday programme as one of the candidates for the Steelmen’s player of the year award and it was clear to see why.
Another driving run of his set up Aarons but the Jamaican’s effort from the edge of the box was blocked.
However, it was game over after 75 minutes when Campbell struck his second of the evening, bursting through the middle of the defence to knock home Long’s cutback from the left.
And Watt had the final say when he latched on to Campbell’s pass to hammer an angled shot past Laidlaw.