I’M GLAD MY OLD PAL WAS A BUSY BODY
Well boss revels in tough shift for ex-Scotland mate Craig
Graham Alexander says the proof his side deserved their victory was in the hard graft his old Scotland team-mate Craig Gordon had to do.
The Steelmen ba g ged back- to- back league wins by putting 10-man Hearts to the sword.
Well boss Alexander insists his men have worked hard since their 6-1 mauling at the hands of Rangers, with wins over Aberdeen and now Hearts since.
He said: “The lads have maintained that challenge and perhaps surpassed it with how they played and how they dominated an excellent opponent, from start to finish.
“I don’t think anyone could complain about the result, it was a brilliant performance from the squad again.
“It ’ s g reat to see them confident about what we’ve tried to put in place in the last three weeks after the Rangers game – but it’s them who go over the white line and produce performances like that. I’m really proud of them again.
“It was a good performance but it has to start with how hard to beat we are and how we limit the opposition to what they get out of us.
“We know we’ve got creators and goalscorers in the team and we showed that.
“We had numerous chances all game and I played with Craig Gordon, he’s an unbelievable goalkeeper, so it was great to see him work so hard and to see that we could beat him twice as well.
“I f we hadn’t have won that game we’d have been disappointed, because the performance merited it.”
Connor Shields’ first goal for Motherwell gave them the lead before the interval, with Rick i Lamie doubl ing it from Sean Goss’ free- kick immediately af ter Hearts’ Taylor Moore had been shown a second yellow card for a foul on Tony Watt.
Despite a powerful front three of Barrie McKay, Josh Ginnelly and Ben Woodburn, Hearts didn’t offered much but showed a gl immer of their menace towards the end of the first half.
However, it went from bad to worse for them in the second half when they were reduced to 10 men.
Hearts had been presented with a chance in seven minutes when Lamie’s slack pass back nearly let in Ginnelly but keeper Liam Kelly neatly side-stepped him to clear the danger.
McKay then sent a neat through- bal l through to Woodburn shortly after that but his control let him down and Kelly was able to block. Well took
the lead in 23 minutes when Kaiyne Woolery’s cross from the right was mishit by Watt but Shields reacted to smash the ball past Gordon from eight yards.
The Fir Park men could have added to that lead, with Barry Maguire forcing a fine block from Gordon, before Watt saw a shot wel l stopped inside the six-yard box from a Woolery set-up.
Hearts had looked strangely toothless a f ter that , a s Motherwell took control – but the Tynecastle side ended the half strongly when only a superb saving tackle from Lamie prevented Ginnelly from being put through on goal by McKay.
The visitors had their first real shot on goal in 57 minutes but Woodburn’s rising try was no problem for Kelly. Hearts went down to 10 men in 64 minutes when Moore col lected a second booking before Lamie doubled the deficit, heading home from a free-kick.
Motherwell could have added further goals, with Watt firing narrowly wide, before crossing for Woolery and Shields, who both saw their efforts blocked.
Alexander added: “We know we can give people a really tough game, we’ve shown that in the last two games.
“We have to pick the bones out of that, analyse it, and understand what we did really well today.
“There is sti ll room for improvement but we’ll continue to work on the training pitch.
“What I know from my players is that they will always commit to their work and do their best.”