New Motherwell signing notches goal
Motherwell kicked off their preseason schedule with a late friendly win away to Crusaders.
New signing Danny Johnson, who joined from Gateshead, scored with the last touch of the ball to bag a 1-0 victory in Belfast, with his back-post header finding the net.
The Steelmen played two different sides in each half, giving the majority of the squad who travelled playing time.
New goalkeeper Mark Gillespie and left back Aaron Taylor-Sinclair both got starts, with Peter Hartley making his long-awaited return from injury.
The heat at Seaview meant the game wasn’t played at a quick pace, with both sides having a handful of chances to open the scoring.
An acrobatic effort from Ryan Bowman was the visitors’best attempt, while the hosts were denied by an offside flag and an incredible save from Gillespie.
The second half saw a player switch including summer recruits Alex Rodríguez Gorrín, Liam Donnelly and Danny Johnson pulling on the claret and amber for the first time.
And it was the latter who would find the net just before the referee’s whistle.
Elliott Frear, who had been industrious down the left flank, swung the ball to the back post where Johnson was on hand to nod home.
Another new signing, centre-back Liam Donnelly, is praying his future defensive partner Cedric Kipre will stay at Fir Park amid interest from Hull.
Having played alongside him during the match, Donnelly is desperate for the Ivory Coast international to stay after Well knocked back an initial bid from the Tigers. He said:“Cedric is a quality player and he has attracted a lot of interest with his performances last season and rightly so. He has done really well and is a great player to play with.
“Of course we would want a player of Cedric’s ability to stay. You want to keep your best players. He has shown how good he is but the situation isn’t in the hands of the players.”
Motherwell were set to play a closed-doors game with Morton last night. They will travel down to England to face Darlington this Sunday.