Moult set to live the dream at Hampden
We kicked off our cup journey against Queen’s Park at Hampden ... and can come full circle by defeating Celtic in the final, insists Motherwell talisman Moult
DREAMS are generally shapeless, fractured things, lacking start points, end points and consistency. For Louis Moult, though, the fulfilment of one this weekend will mark the completion of a quite perfect circle.
The 25-year- old Englishman hasn’t had the same bedtime visions which preceded his last visit to Hampden, when his pair of second-half goals bowled Rangers out of the Betfred Cup at the last-four stage. Not yet anyway.
However, he is convinced his Motherwell side will repeat the dose in the final on Sunday and land him his first major honour in addition to ending Celtic’s exceptional 64-game unbeaten run in domestic competition.
Stephen Robinson’s side have developed something of a love affair with the largely unloved national stadium of late, with Moult also scoring there as they opened this particular tournament with a 5-1 win over Queen’s Park.
A certain familiarity with Hampden exists now. And it is something Moult believes will be priceless when he joins his team-mates in attempting to record a third victory there in just four months and end this particular journey where it all began.
‘It was a massive plus that the semi-final was at Hampden,’ he said. ‘We have been there and done it.
‘It is good that we’ve been there twice, in fact. We started our cup campaign at Hampden against Queen’s Park and we’re going to finish it there.
‘We started with a win and I believe we will finish with a win.’
Moult insists that famous victory over Rangers last month ranks ‘right at the top’ in terms of life experiences. And, yet, the events of that afternoon could hardly be termed a complete surprise to him.
The former Wrexham and Nuneaton Town man relaxed on his bed in the team hotel in the hours leading up to kick-off and had his slumber interrupted in the most welcome fashion by scenes of glory which were about to be replayed all over again — bettered, perhaps — in the waking world.
The tap-in from close-range after a stramash in the box spoke to his poacher’s instinct. His second, a magnificent lob over the head of Rangers goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, exhibited the great variation of finishes in his armoury.
‘I remember lying in the hotel room, just daydreaming and thinking I was going to score and we were going to win,’ recalled Moult, whose talents have delivered 50 goals in 97 outings in claret and amber, 14 coming this season alone.
‘But I didn’t think it was going to be two goals or that the second would go in like that. It was an unbelievable f eeling and we deserved that.
‘We can’t just settle for that, though. We want more as a squad and a football club.
‘I haven’t had any dreams about Sunday just yet. I will definitely try to have a dream, though.’
Of course, dreaming involves a period of settled sleep first. And that does not come easy to a new father.
On the toilet bag Moult takes to games, there are two charming, black-and-white photographs of his three-year- old daughter Isla as a baby. She has now been joined at home by little Lily Anna, born to the striker and his partner Carlie at the end of last month.
Moult was just one of many parents in the Fir Park dressing room delighted when manager Robinson broke with tradition and asked if they fancied staying in a hotel ahead of the semi-final with Rangers.
It worked a treat for Moult then. Motherwell booked overnight accommodation for last Saturday’s trip to Pittodrie and the striker scored twice again. Needless to say, he is already looking forward to a comfortable bed and some respite from the red-eyed world of nappy-changing, 3am feeds and baby monitors this Saturday night as well.
‘The gaffer asked before the semi-final who wanted to sleep in a hotel the night before the cup final and who didn’t. Everyone with a kid said yes,’ smiled Moult. ‘That is a true story.
‘I was desperate for it just to have a couple of hours’ kip.
‘I am lucky enough to have two beautiful girls, though. Everything I do is for my kids and my family as they have been brilliant and they have backed me all the way.’
HEwill have the backing of thousands this Sunday, of course, as he bids to secure Motherwell’s first trophy since the 1991 Scottish Cup.
He will carry all of their dreams on his shoulders, but there is one man to whom he has already made a particularly special promise — club doctor Mark Bonnes.
‘I have heard a great deal about the 1991 squad,’ said Moult. ‘It’s funny. The club doctor has a picture on his wall of the boys on the bus, celebrating.
‘I remember saying to him last month: ‘I’ll get you another one of them!’ ‘ That’s exactly what we are going to try and do.
‘ We really want to become history-makers, both personally and as a football club.
‘The doctor said: “Aye, that would be great”.’
A typical Lanarkshire understatement. Fitting of the place, in many ways. Rather like the decision to send the squad to Sunday’s cup final in their trackies rather than specially-commissioned suits.
Robinson wants his players to go there with the workman’s mentality.
For Moult, who worked as a painter and decorator with dad Arthur when his career looked like it might not work out, it makes perfect sense.
‘The thinking behind that is that we know what we are. We address every game the same way and we don’t wear suits,’ he said.
‘It is a small thing which sums up the character of the team a little bit.
‘ We understand where we have come from as a group and as individuals and as a football club. We know our background.’
YET,just 90 minutes away, lies the promised land. This is likely to be Moult’s one and only chance to garnish a wonderful, transformative period of his career with a trophy. He will almost certainly be off to pastures new in the summer, if not before.
He is honest with supporters over his desire to do what is best for his family. Those fans, in turn, will wave him off with every good wish. Moult is clear about his desire to share with them one afternoon to top them all.
‘ It would mean everything, absolutely everything,’ he said. ‘It would be unbelievable for me.
‘Everyone at the football club believes we can do it.
‘Belief is so important in any game. I go i nto every game believing I am going to score and that Motherwell are going to win.
‘I think that is the mentality at the football club right now.’
A dreamer and a doer, Moult is a man Celtic may end up having nightmares about.