MOTHERWELL V ABERDEEN

Already relegated by March and no wages in the bank. Losing every game for a club that wouldn’t exist by the end of the season.

What Ryan Bowman experienced in his time at Darlington could have forced h im t o pa c k i t i n . As a squad, they had meetings to discuss whether or not they were going to play in their next game. But incredibly, the striker stuck it out. Not only that, he moved to Hereford United who – just like Darlington – went bust before his campaign was out. Yet Bowman scratched, scrapped and scored his way out before eventually ending up at Motherwell. A n d b oy, d oes he ap preciate wh at he’s got now. TheSteelmen might not be the biggest club in the world. But from where Bowman has come from, Fir Park must feel like the Bernabeu. The25-year-old has had to graft for everything he’s got. A regular goal-getter in non-league football down south, he watched Darlington and Hereford financially self-implode. Like many of his mates, he could h a v e bi n n e d i t a n d t r ied t o e a r n h i s corn elsewhere. But just like former National League team-mates Sam Clucas and Marley Watkins, he refused to give up. And that gritty determination is why the striker is still in Lanarkshire this term. In the summer, after a poor two-goal return last season, gaffer Stevie Robinson was willing to listen to offers. Several non-league sides were interested but Bowman said no. He’d fought so hard to get here and his pride wasn’t going to allow him to admit defeat before he had given it his best shot. Now, he’s part of Robinson’s firstchoice striker partnership at Well alongside red-hot Louis Moult. He still has plenty to prove in the Scottish Premiership. But Bowman’s terrific current form looks to be v indicating his decision to hang around. Speaking to MailSport, he said: “I was worried in the summer that I might not get another crack at it. “I had a couple of chats with the manager.

“He told me he was bringing in a few more strikers and asked what I thought. I said I wanted to give it another go.

“I could have left. A few clubs back in England, at League Two and Conference level, wanted me. “But after speaking to the manager I decided I wanted to stay. I earned this move because of what I had done in the previous year. “I thought it would be stupid not to h a v e a no t h e r go at Mo t her wel l . “I was worried that I’d regret it in a few years’ time. If I went back I could be there for the rest of my life. “That’s not something you want to do. I worked hard to get here. “I’ve had to work hard for ever ything I’ve got in football. “I was at Darlington and doing well before they went bust for the