BRING IT ON
Robinson confident his Motherwell warriors can help themselves to another slice of Scottish Cup folklore after dismantling of Dons
MOTHERWELL have not lifted the Scottish Cup for 27 years, but this brutal destruction of Aberdeen suggests Stephen Robinson’s team are in the mood to go to war with history. Beaten finalists in the League Cup last November, the Lanarkshire club’s supporters might reasonably have assumed that their shot at a first trophy since 1991 had gone for another season.
Yet this victory was so overwhelming, so driven by self-belief, that you just wonder. The winner of today’s second semi-final between Celtic and Rangers will start as favourites on May 19, but perform with the same conviction and all-out effort and Motherwell might just come close.
‘We’ve drawn twice with Celtic this season and beaten Rangers, so we don’t fear anybody,’ said Robinson.
‘I’ll go to the game and it may be the only game ever that I’ll actually be able to enjoy watching. I have absolutely no preference whatsoever.’
For Aberdeen and Derek McInnes, this was yet another big-game disappointment. Beaten in both cup finals last term, they were desperate to secure something tangible from this season but, shorn of captain Graeme Shinnie and key men Shay Logan and Kenny McLean, this was a rudderless performance compared to Motherwell’s oh-so-simple game-plan.
Many involved in football regard the term ‘long-ball team’ as a mortal insult. Yet there is no other way to describe Robinson’s men. And when the plan of shelling it towards strikers Curtis Main and Ryan Bowman is so effective, why wouldn’t the Northern Irishman squeeze every advantage from it?
Those two bullied the Aberdeen defence into submission, with the hapless Kari Arnason given an especially torrid day of it. But as game and fearless as they are, both can finish, too. Main, a mid-season replacement for the prolific Louis Moult, scored twice and took his second with a calmness that belied his otherwise frenetic performance. Bowman got the other through sheer persistence.
‘I wouldn’t fancy playing against them,’ said Robinson of his strikers. ‘They are strong, physical and they give you everything. They push people around but I’ll tell you what, they’ve got some quality about them, too. They set the tone for us today, right from the start.’
While there was much focus on the absence of Aberdeen’s core trio, Motherwell pulled off a pre-match masterstroke by announcing contract extensions for four of their starting XI on the eve of the game.
Cedric Kipre, Richard Tait, Charles Dunne and Bowman have all committed beyond the end of the season and contributed to a swell of optimism as kickoff approached.
McInnes has drawn remarkable levels of consistency out of his team and has a natural inclination towards pragmatism. The suspensions forced him to get creative with his selections, hence the deployment of Greg Stewart in support of strikers Adam Rooney and Stevie May.
With Ryan Christie also joining in from deep, that placed a huge onus on the central-midfield pairing of Anthony O’Connor and Chidi Nwakali.
The irony, of course, is that a central midfield is not necessarily so important against a team that routinely bypasses that area of the pitch.
O’Connor was posted as a screener in front of the defence, a sensible tactic in the face of the aerial bombardment that would inevitably be thrown Aberdeen’s way, but ultimately the sheer force of will from Robinson’s players would prevail.
Just before conceding the opening goal, McInnes had looked relaxed as he headed an errant Motherwell punt back onto the pitch and raised his hand in a mock gesture of triumph to the Dons fans behind his technical area. It was to be his sole moment of celebration.
Motherwell’s opener should not have stood, because Richard Tait used a hand to burrow his way behind right-back Dominic Ball as a long kick from goalkeeper Trevor Carson carried to the penalty area via a mistimed header from Arnason.
Ball stopped to protest and, as he screamed towards referee Kevin Clancy, Tait advanced and slotted the cut-back that gave Main his tap-in.
Aberdeen’s defending was simply weak at the second.
Bowman may have been all over Arnason as he latched onto Scott McKenna’s scuffed clearance attempt, but the Icelandic international was too easily overpowered.
Questions might too be asked of the Aberdeen goalkeeper. Joe Lewis is normally a dependable custodian but he was caught between attempting to hold or parry Bowman’s initial toe-poke of a finish and could not adjust his feet in time to prevent the trundling rebound from creeping over the line.
Motherwell continued to smother their opponents until McInnes was forced into a substitution on the cusp of half-time as the thoroughly ineffective Nwakali succumbed to an ankle knock and was removed in favour of Gary Mackay Steven. The former Celtic winger is not renowned as a scrapper, but he proceeded to do more to threaten Motherwell in the minute before the break than his team-mates had managed in the previous 44. His first drive at the Steelmen’s defence may have ended in an errant cross-field pass, but he was quickly back on the ball and jinked forward before slipping in May with a delightful reverse pass. The striker dragged just wide of the far post but at least the switch had injected some hope into Aberdeen’s day. Aided by the later introduction of Niall McGinn, they made a bright enough start to the second half. A neat move involving Stewart and McGinn presented Rooney with his first sight of goal, but the Irishman seemed almost too keen to make sure he hit the target, hitting a forceful shot straight at Carson. Motherwell kept playing the percentages and got their third from another punt, this time from Andy Rose. The midfielder’s ball fell straight into Arnason’s path, but the attempted clearance was charged down by Main, whose commitment earned him the break of the ball. The striker is not the quickest but he had enough in his legs to leave the 35-year-old Arnason trailing and produced an emphatic shot to seal the win.
As if to rub salt in Arnason’s wounds, the Motherwell support then settled into the celebratory thunderclap made famous by the Iceland support at Euro 2016.
If Iceland were the fairytale story in France two years ago, Northern Ireland were not far behind. Robinson served as part of Michael O’Neill’s backroom staff as qualification for the knock-out stages was achieved by the smallest of the UK’s home nations.
‘I’ve used the Northern Ireland analogy,’ added Robinson. ‘All we would hear about was the 1982 and 1986 squads, but now there are new heroes in town.
‘Likewise, these boys have such a terrific chance. They aren’t earning millions of pounds, but they give you everything. I’d love to see it.
‘We also have a board of directors who are so supportive. We are run by fans, we don’t have a big benefactor and we don’t have millions of pounds.
‘To achieve two cup finals in one season with the amount of change we have had is terrific credit to the club.
‘The board back me to the hilt. Sometimes they can’t afford it. We do things like buy medical beds off ebay — I’m not sure there are too many clubs like us.’
Last night it was battered Aberdeen who were in need of a good lie down.