Well’s double act are centre stage
Moult and Bowman’s lethal link-up key for Robbo
Motherwell ...............2 Kilmarnock ...............0
Michael Temlett at Fir Park Motherwell made it three victories in a row for the first time since last April against winless Kilmarnock.
Second- half strikes from Ryan Bowman and Louis Moult secured all three points and made it eight wins out of the first 10 competitive games from the Steelmen.
Now boss Stephen Robinson is hopeful of tying down Moult to a new contract after he praised the wanted striker and his partner-in-crime Ryan Bowman for their performances.
He said: “I haven’t given up hope of keeping Louis at the club, not by any stretch of the imagination, and we’ll continue speaking to him.
“Anybody that scores that amount of goals, we don’t want to leave the football club.
“I thought Ryan was excellent. His hold- up play as well as his goal, and his energy and desire were great.
“I think that’s why the fans have been patient with him. But now he is adding goals and we are delighted for him.
“I thought we dominated the whole game, if I’m being honest.
“Our decision-making in the first half wasn’t as good and I was trying to get them to be a little more patient and make that extra pass because we were hitting too many diagonal balls. Stephen Robinson has assembled a great squad who are simply outplaying their opponents. Keep it up! “Our substitutes made a big impact. We had so much possession but we needed a little more quality to dictate the game - there was no question about their commitment or their desire.” A bout of tonsillitis ripped through the Kilmarnock camp during the week, meaning Lee McCulloch was forced into making three changes. But in the end, the Rugby Park boss would still be left feeling ill following a lacklustre Killie performance. Kris Boyd, Adam Frizzell and Jordan Jones dropped out to be replaced by Chris Burke, Eamonn Brophy and former Well star Lee Erwin. For Stephen Robinson, he introduced Peter Hartley — after his deadline day switch following Ben Heneghan’s departure — and brought in Trevor Carson and Allan Campbell for Russell Griffiths and Elliott Frear. Motherwell’s first chance came within 10 minutes as Moult’s pinpoint delivery found Bowman, who failed to make proper contact. Killie went down the other end and should have taken the lead through Eamonn Brophy but a fantastic save at the back post from Trevor Carson denied the former Accies man. But it was a poor first half which Motherwell have only been beaten by Killie once in the past 11 meetings, with a 2-0 defeat in February 2016 being the last loss. The first half was a poor contest which was down to both sides. There won’t be many worse this year needed a moment of magic, However, it was only Jamie MacDonald in the Killie goal who provided the magic in the early stages of the second half with two top saves.
First, he tipped over Moult’s free-kick which was destined for the top corner.
MacDonald’s second save came after Moult linked up with Richard Tait and drilled the ball goalward and the Killie keeper managed to stop the ball from crawling under him with a fingertip stop on the line.
On 65 minutes, Killie’s resilience was broken when sub Gael Bigirimana played in Bowman, who smashed the ball high into the back of the net.
When Bowman was bundled over in the box after a challenge from Iain Wilson, Moult killed the game off by scoring from the spot. Ryan Bowman believes Louis Moult will sign a new Motherwell deal.
The former Gateshead striker said: “We did very well to keep Louis in the transfer window as we knew we would get offers with his goals and his all round performances.
“I’m just glad that we kept the partnership going.
“Louis has been offered a new contract and I think he’ll sign it.
‘Everybody is pestering him to sign and I think he’ll crumble soon.” Celtic Aberdeen St Johnstone Rangers MOTHERWELL Hibernian Hamilton Accies Hearts Ross County Partick Thistle Kilmarnock Dundee PWDL 5 4 1 0 5 4 1 0 5 3 2 0 5 3 1 1 5 3 0 2 5 2 2 1 5 2 1 2 5 1 2 2 5 1 1 3 5 0 1 4 5 0 1 4 5 0 1 4 Pts 13 13 11 10 9 8 7 5 4 1 1 1
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