Bowman happy to stop the rot
Ryan hopes point will turn club’s season around
Ben Ramage
Motherwell striker Ryan Bowman hopes the point the Steelmen battled to against Livingston can get the club firing back up the table.
After a disappointing start to the season, the hosts were looking to pick up their first league point in five games after a poor run of form.
And having taken the lead from Bowman’s strike early on, the Fir Parkers were left fighting to take anything from the match after Keaghan Jacobs struck a superb equaliser and Carl Mchugh saw red late on.
But ‘Well stood up to the task and bagged a crucial point as the team enter an important run of fixtures against sides in the lower half of the table.
Bowman said: “We’ve stopped that rot, four games without a win.
“We knew today was going to be tough. They’re at the top end of the table for a reason.
“When it went 1-1 and we went down to 10 men it could have been easy for our heads to drop and feel sorry for ourselves and go under
“But we showed character, we dug in deep and come out with a point. We’ll never give up.”
Livi started brightly with Scott Robinson’s shot deflected wide. The tireless Dolly Menga then missed a great chance, heading wide at the back post. Well took the lead when Allan Campbell picked up a loose ball and found Bowman in the box. Liam Kelly looked to have the shot covered but it flicked off Craig Halkett and over the keeper. Before the first period ended, Lamie’s chalked-off goal was followed by Well screaming for a penalty after a Halkett handball. After the restart, Menga won the freekick for Jacobs to produce a moment of magnificence from 25 yards. Well were rocked further when Mchugh was sent off. The battler, who was booked for a challenge on Declan Gallagher, was shown a second yellow card in seven minutes when he went through Menga. Stephen Robinson’s men were on the back foot for the closing stages, but they held firm, despite Livi almost winning it with Lamie’s last-gasp close shave. Robinson was frustrated by a trio of key incidents as the Steelmen let their winning position slip. He said: “It was vital for us to get a point from this. “We dealt with all the adversity we There was a special moment for the Cadden family as Livi’s Nicky came off the bench to play against twin bro Chris for the first time. An important point for confidence against a team who’ve already beaten Hibs and Rangers this season. A win is still proving hard to come by at Fir Park, with‘well still looking for their first home league win. faced and I have to give credit to the players’ character.
“Of course, some of them are not playing as well as last season and that is down to confidence.
“I thought that Carl’s second yellow was extremely harsh. I haven’t spoken to the referee as there is no point in doing so.
“We could have had a penalty as well. I haven’t seen it back, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was blatant. It was a tough game and the biggest thing for me was the resilience shown not to get beaten.
“I think you can see the nervousness in the side because we had lost our last four games. We have stopped the rot and now we have a few weeks to get ready for the St Johnstone game.” Hearts Hibernian Celtic Kilmarnock Livingston Rangers Aberdeen St Johnstone Hamilton MOTHERWELL St Mirren Dundee P WDL 8 6 1 1 8 5 2 1 8 5 1 2 8 5 1 2 8 4 3 1 8 4 2 2 8 3 3 2 8 2 2 4 8 2 0 6 8 1 2 5 8 1 1 6 8 1 0 7 PTS 19 17 16 16 15 14 12 8 6 5 4 3
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