Robinson’s risky gamble fails to reap reward as Jackson profits
MOTHERWELL manager Stephen Robinson sacrificed the meeting with Celtic in midweek by fielding an under-strength side at Parkhead, having prioritised this match, when a home victory would have increased the gap between them and second-bottom St Mirren to 12 points.
Robinson, who began a threematch touchline ban yesterday, made five changes to the team which lost 3-0 to the champions, with Christian Mbulu, Allan Campbell, David Turnbull, Danny Johnson and Curtis Main back in the starting XI. The notion that his key men would return refreshed proved to be misguided.
Saints had been the only Premiership club not to have won away from home this season but they did so at Motherwell and the home fans could be forgiven for jeering their players from the field at the final whistle after a truly abject display.
By contrast, Oran Kearney’s team ran to their 678 supporters at the end to celebrate a longawaited victory. However, Kearney claimed afterwards — somewhat unconvincingly — that he wouldn’t read too much into that breakthrough.
‘Not really; we don’t really look at milestones like that,’ he said. ‘The mentality all week was: “Let’s get our first away win and get the monkey off our backs”. Our psyche coming into the game was that we’ve underperformed against the teams around us.
‘We’ve been disappointed with those performances and the most pleasing aspect today was that we put that right.
‘Our substitutions happened at a point where the game was probably going to open up and it proved to be that way for us.
‘Dean Lyness has waited to get his opportunity and that’s exactly what you want to see.
‘I’m sure their (Motherwell) mentality this week revolved around trying to put distance between us and them and I suppose ours was the opposite; it was about trying to put a hook in them and reel them back in.
‘It’s important that we keep as many teams in the mix as possible, for as long as possible. When things become nervy and edgy, it’s important we have company there.’
Even Kearney would concede that this was hardly a classic. Indeed, the drenched spectators had to wait until the 26th minute before they witnessed a shot at goal — a miss-hit volley from Carl McHugh which trundled wide of Lyness’s left-hand post.
The first effort on target came seven minutes later and also wasn’t one to write home about, a tame header by Main which was comfortably gathered by the Saints goalkeeper.
Lee Hodson had the visitors’ first attempt of note a minute from the interval, a rising drive from 20 yards which cleared the crossbar. It had been a truly dreadful 45 minutes.
Both teams were low in confidence and, unfortunately for the fans, they were also united in lacking players who were willing to — or capable of — putting their foot on the ball and picking out a team-mate. The swirling wind and rain wouldn’t have helped matters but could not be used as an excuse.
The hosts started the second half more positively and Johnson fired over from a Richard Tait cutback and the latter also delivered a cross which Tom Aldred nodded tamely into the arms of Lyness.
It was decidedly against the run of play, then, when Saints broke the deadlock in the 68th minute and, less surprisingly, the goal came as a result of a mistake.
Yet another hopeful long ball upfield ought to have been cleared by Gael Bigirimana but the substitute, who had replaced Mbulu just seven minutes earlier, was caught in two minds and that allowed substitute Cammy Smith to steal in behind him and drill in a shot.
Mark Gillespie, who had had nothing to do prior to that moment, could only parry his attempt and Simeon Jackson seized on the rebound, driving the ball behind him.
Lyness beat away a drive from Turnbull but it was a save he should have made.
The goalkeeper did well to block a Main header with his legs but, for all their possession, Motherwell didn’t create much.
Gillespie produced a superb stop at the death to deny Adam Hammill a second for Saints.
Lyness saved a header from Turnbull in the fourth minute of stoppage time but one suspects that an extra hour would not have been enough time for the home side to find an equaliser.
Assistant manager Keith Lasley did not attempt to mask his frustration over his side’s display.
‘It’s not what we were looking for, both in terms of the result and the performance,’ he said. ‘The big thing for us was the manner of both.
‘That’s not the way we like to play football, it’s not how we have been successful. We were too slow, the tempo was too slow and we just never got going.’
MOTHERWELL (3-1-4-2): Gillespie; Mbulu (Bigirimana 62), Aldred, Dunne; McHugh; Grimshaw, Campbell (Sammon 82), Turnbull, Tait (Bowman 82); Main, Johnson. Subs (not used): Ferguson, Taylor-Sinclair, Frear, Gorrin. Booked: Grimshaw. ST MIRREN (3-5-1-1): Lyness; Jones, Ferdinand, Baird; P McGinn, Edwards (Smith 59), S McGinn, Erhahon, Hodson; Cooke (Hamill 57); Jackson (Flynn 89). Subs (not used): Rogers, Kirkpatrick, McShane, Breadner. Booked: None. Referee: Don Robertson. Attendance: 4,540.