Jules rules the roost
PREMIERSHIP Boyd hits 200th top-flight goal but on-loan Reading defender franks Robinson’s claim for top job, writes Graeme McGarry
WITH both teams going into this game without a permanent manager, the stage was set at Rugby Park for one of the two men in temporary charge to stake a claim for a full-time gig, and it was Stephen Robinson in the Motherwell dugout who would have impressed most with his audition for the Fir Park hotseat.
The Northern Irishman made two changes at the interval with his team trailing, taking off experienced pair Stevie Hammell and Keith Lasley and throwing on Elliott Frear and Ryan Bowman. The alterations along with the probable rocket he gave his men proved decisive, as Frear set up both of their goals to turn an abject first-half performance into one good enough to earn their first win in five games and their fourth in a row at this venue.
Robinson was quick to deflect the praise for the victory on to Mark McGhee, the manager who brought him back to the club and was relieved of his duties last Tuesday.
“The changes at the break obviously worked for us because we won but whether they were the reason, who knows?” Robinson said. “But I wanted to put a bit more positivity into the team and, with Elliott, you get a lot of forward thinking and Ryan Bowman was excellent when he came on, a real handful for them.
“The players have bought into what we’ve tried to do all week and that showed today. More to the point, we’ve shown that we really care – the players threw their bodies on the line and the effort and energy they displayed was fantastic.
“This has been a tough week. Mark’s been a very good friend to me and guided me in the game. A lot of those players owed Mark a performance and they gave it.”
Kris Boyd hit his 200th goal in the Scottish top-flight to give Kilmarnock a deserved lead, but the revitalised Well hit back through Carl McHugh and Zak Jules, both men by contrast celebrating their first goals in Scottish football.
There was late drama as Frear brought down Callum Roberts in the area, but Boyd cracked the post with his spot-kick and Motherwell celebrated their victory like they had won the league itself.
You had to feel for Boyd that the day of his landmark ended on such a low note.
“I’ve said it in the past – I don’t think I’ll realise what I’ve done until I’m finished and I’ll look back at certain goals,” said Boyd. “For me, I’m more raging that I’ve missed the penalty because that would have taken me on to 201.
“I won’ t shirk my responsibilities. I’ll go forward to hit the next one. I’ve missed some before and I’ll miss more going forward, but I am disappointed we lost a game we had the majority of.
“I thought Motherwell were a team that played percentage football, got it forward and asked a question of us defensively. I thought we coped with it but let ourselves down with those set plays. It’s not just today – it’s been numerous occasions this season where we have lost goals from set plays and it’s something we need to brush up on.”
As hard as the ending to the game was for Boyd, it was also hard not to be pleased for hulking Motherwell defender Jules, whose confidence even in this match was clearly fragile after a torrid introduction to Scottish football since his loan move from Reading.
The deployment of the outstanding McHugh at the heart of the Motherwell defence seemed to help him, plugging the dam that has been leaking with such ferocity towards Craig Samson in recent weeks, and although they rode their luck at times, it was hard to grudge them their win for sheer commitment to the cause.
Killie probably had less of the ball in the opening stages, but they carried the greater threat, and Boyd moved them ahead just after the half hour as Gary Dicker floated a ball into the area that Boyd controlled before holding off Ben Heneghan with ease and smuggling the ball beyond Samson.
Robinson’s intervention at halftime changed everything, with his substitutes making an immediate impact as Frear burst down the left and won a corner. He delivered it himself, and Louis Moult rose to head into the crowded six-yard box where McHugh was on-hand to slam high into the net.
The visitors would complete the turnaround 15 minutes from the end and again Frear was the creator, curling a free-kick on to the head of Jules, who had the freedom of Rugby Park to nod into the bottom corner.