Motherwell see window of opportunity to edge into top six
PLAYING a game on the evening of transfer deadline day can be a precarious business, as Motherwell will surely testify.
For reasons best known to themselves, Ross County and the Lanarkshire club decided to schedule their Ladbrokes Premiership tussle for a few ominous hours before the transfer window – the most fickle and mischievous of windows – slammed to a close.
Understandably it made for a nervous evening for the 50 odd Motherwell fans who managed to tear themselves away from Jim White and his yellow tie to watch their team grab a precious three points in a 2-1 victory.
As fate would have it, it would be the two Motherwell men with most transfer speculation surrounding them, Scott McDonald and Louis Moult, who would get the decisive strikes either side of Jay McEveley’s leveller.
Their goals underlined how important it is to Motherwell’s top-six aspirations that they remain at Fir Park at least until the end of the season.
McDonald’s inclusion in this game was clouded by further speculation about him returning to his homeland Down Under, with Western Sydney Warriors a potential suitor.
Indeed, the Australian’s striker’s future was still in doubt as he took to the Global Energy Stadium pitch in the warm up with confusion suggesting the A-League window would allow him to move beyond the Scottish midnight deadline.
Not that he was showing any signs of mental distraction in his play here, a fact that was perfectly proven on 28 minutes when he stroked Motherwell into the lead. An ambitious Lee Lucas ball forward went straight to McEveley at the heart of a high-lying County defence, but the big defender’s own mind must have been elsewhere as the ball skidded under his foot and into the path of McDonald. The 33-year-old scampered in on goal to guide the ball beyond Scott Fox.
If there was a whiff of calamity about the opener, the scent of disaster was unmistakable as County went level six minutes later against the run of play. A Martin Woods corner was met by the diving head of McEveley, and the ball somehow looped over the top of Craig Samson on his line.
While McDonald has been a key figure for Motherwell this season at the apex of their attack, the same can be said for his partner Moult. Tipped to be the next big asset to be sold on for a profit at Fir Park, the Lanarkshire board knocked back a bid earlier in the window from CSKA Sofia for the former Stoke City forward and he showed his worth yet again in the Highlands.
The 24-year-old’s 13th goal of the season arrived on 54 minutes. A perfect corner from Stevie Hammell found Moult unmarked on the six-yard line and his bullet header flew beyond Scott Fox.
The win elevated Motherwell to sixth in the table, and, with McDonald and Moult at the time of writing safely tucked away on the Motherwell team bus, they could very well stay there for some time yet.
Meanwhile, the Fir Park club released defender Louis Laing after full-time for him to seek another club beyond the window.