DUNDEE................................ 0 MOTHERWELL.....................1
THERE were no wrestlers present but Motherwell strangled Dundee into submission last night at Dens Park to round off a wonderful few days with a deserved win.
An early goal by Craig Tanner was enough to give them victory on a night when they proved there is plenty of brains to go with their brawn, no matter the opinion of Rangers defender Fabio Cardoso, who compared the Steelmen to the stars of WWE in the Ibrox side’s official match programme.
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson freshened up his side after t he physically and emotionally draining Betfred Cup semi-final victory over Rangers on Sunday.
Gael Bigirimana, Tanner, Elliott Frear and Alex Fisher came in for Allan Campbell, Chris Cadden, Andy Rose and man-of-the-moment Louis Moult.
Not that they needed their talismanic striker as the visitors were on top in the first half despite their weekend exertions.
It took them just five minutes to take the lead as Charles Dunne sent a ball up to Ryan Bowman, who flicked it on for the unmarked Tanner to collect inside the area.
He had time to take a touch before placing a curling effort high past Scott Bain with the outside of his left boot.
Motherwell were pressing high, stopping Dundee from adopting their favoured approach of passing from the back.
The locals voiced their concern on more than one occasion as Bain was forced into high aimless balls that were meat and drink to the three hulking Motherwell defenders.
They were given a route back into the game when visiting captain Carl McHugh won a challenge in midfield facing his own goal, with the ball ricocheting all the way back to Trevor Carson.
The goalkeeper duly picked it up, but referee Stephen Finnie was maybe the only man in Dens Park who thought McHugh had deliberately passed it back, and awarded an indirect free-kick 12 yards from goal.
With a mass of claret-andamber bodies charging him down, though, Roarie Deacon’s subsequent dragged effort was in keeping with his first-half contribution – wasteful.
HE wasn’t the only one. Sofien Moussa blew a couple of good opportunities too as Neil McCann’s men finally burst into life, and the striker thought he had dragged his side level before the break.
A cracking cross from Kevin Holt found the head of Moussa, who directed the ball low past Carson, but Finnie saw a push from the frontman on Peter Hartley and disallowed the goal.
Motherwell would have been pleased to hear the half-time whistle, and they managed to re-group for a second period in which Dundee had plenty of possession, but very little in the way of clear-cut chances.
The introduction of Paul McGowan for Deacon added a sorely-needed creative spark, and his trickery almost opened up a Motherwell defence that was being superbly marshalled by captain McHugh after Peter Hartley was forced off with a knee injury.
Alas, for all of Dundee’s probing, the better opportunities fell at the other end, and Bigirimana should have wrapped up the points when he burst through on to substitute Moult’s clever back-heel and faced Bain.
From just eight yards though, the midfielder gave Bain a chance with his effort, and the Scotland squad keeper brilliantly clawed the ball clear.
Dundee continued to huff and puff, and a deep ball to the back post by Holt found Moussa rising well, but Carson dealt with his effort well.
Moult could have rounded off a dream week in the closing stages as he drove towards the Dundee defence and sidestepped the challenge of Jack Hendry before firing just over the junction of crossbar and post.
It mattered not, and at the final bell Motherwell rose to third, with a second straight defeat leaving Dundee on the ropes. don’t think I did a whole lot wrong.
“I didn’t leave my technical area etc, but we will deal with that and speak to the SFA and I’m sure they will be sensible with it.
“I’d be absolutely devastated (to miss the final), for what it was. It would be an injustice to say the least, but we’ll deal with it when it happens.”
He was delighted after Craig Tanner’s early winner proved enough to claim three points at Dens Park.
“I said (to the players) that’s the best result of the season,” he said. “The last two games we have pulled out two results. The good thing is we’re winning games and could play a lot better.”