All is Well again after long week ends in vital victory
FORMER British Prime Minister Harold Wilson’ s quote ‘a week is along time in politics’ maybe true , but the l ate Labour man can’t hold a candle to what it must have been like for M other well’ s suffering squad over a torturous seven days.
The reason for the protracted feeling conveyed over their regime is as predictable as it is infuriating for Mark McGhee’ s team. The concession of another late goal in last weekend’ s trip to St Johnstone put the brake son any momentum generated by their 3-0 win at Dundee United just four days earlier, propelling them back into a pit of despair made familiar to them recently.
It was the sixth time in 10 games Mother well had allowed al at elapse to ham per their cause and no doubt left all concerned longing for a chance to put it right. None more so than Scott McDonald, who played a pivot al role in helping his side do just that on Saturday against Partick Thistle .
The Australian strike r was help less to prevent the Fir Park club falling to a 2-1 defeat in Perth the week earlier after he was forced to pull out of the game just seconds before it began due to a tight hamstring.
It me ant he was force d to sit on the bench and witness another collapse that would throw fresh doubt on M other well’ s ability to see games out.
He would finally ge t his chance to show that they can do just that at the weekend. Three goals up and cruising at Fir Park on Saturday thanks to a Louis Moult double and a Marvin Johnson solo effort, even the concession of a cheap late goal from Callum Booth was not enough to worry McGhee or his te am.
“Coming off the back of scoring a couple of goals it was a blow ,” said McDonald on missing out at McDiar mid Park days after scoring two at Tan na dice. “It never happens when you’ re playing badly!
“It was the last kick of the warm-up and I had to say to the gaffer that it didn’ t feel right. He said that it was be st for me to sit it out.
“The re ’s no point in me playing and having to come off afte r two minute s and using up a sub.
“It was be tte r I sat out the Saints game and put in some good work with the physio. It all turne d out good this we e k.
“We needed that win. We turned up and dominated from the start. It got e d gy at the e nd whe n the y score d but it was a fair re sult.”
While last we e k McGhe e and his Mothe rwe ll playe rs who surface d to spe ak to the pre ss stre sse d t he ne e d not to be swe pt away with grie f at the loss of at le ast a point, conve rse ly this time the y we re ple ad ing the case of caution.
The victory hauls the m up to e ighth place , thre e points be - hind Dundee in sixth but more importantly four in front of Kilmarnock in the play-off place .
It is a no man’s land fraught with d ange r for se ve ral te ams ke e n to te mpe r the ir top-six ambitions with the raw d e sire to simply survive ,and McDonald is no different in finding it diffi- cult to know what d ire ction to glance in.
“I re ally d on’t know which way to look,” he said . “Maybe both be cause it’s that tight.
“We ’re in a far be tte r position than we we re last ye ar and we have a good group of lad s in the re . Hope fully we can ge t wins be fore the split and the n se e whe re we are .”