Three wise men
Motherwell spark with new system
IN an age when Bill Shankly’s wisdom about football being a simple game complicated by idiots seems increasingly apt, Motherwell supporters should be thankful that Mark McGhee is an advocate of finding simple solutions to simple problems.
The acquisition of Ryan Bowman from Gateshead last month to complement an existing strikeforce of Scott McDonald and Louis Moult presented the Fir Park manager with the enviable quandary of what to do with three proven goalscorers.
In such circumstances, even the most skilled man-manager runs the risk of encountering a petted lip or two when the team sheet is pinned to the wall.
In fashioning a system that was able to accommodate his trident of striking talents against Hamilton, however, McGhee struck a blow for both diplomacy and common sense.
With McDonald shuttling between the left-midfield role where Marvin Johnson was previously to be found and the area behind the front two, the Steelmen simply had too much nous for the men from down the road during a rampant opening 21 minutes.
Moult claimed the match ball with a 13-minute hat-trick in that period and, by the end of the day, would become the first man in Claret and Amber to score four in a game since Steve Kirk in the late 80s.
While the headlines and the adulation rightly belonged to a player who has only recently returned to the fold following groin surgery, McGhee will have derived equal pleasure from the two assists Bowman provided and the sage use of the ball by McDonald in a deeper role.
As for his refreshing belief that you can’t have too many goalscorers on the pitch at any given time, the proof rather lay in his side making puddings of Accies before even the first quarter of the game had expired.
‘I think we shocked ourselves,’ said Bowman. ‘We were 3-0 up in such a short space of time.
‘The three of us played off each other. We ran off defenders and held-up play to bring other players in. It worked really well.
‘Hopefully, we can carry on. The good thing about being a three is that if you are not on it, there are two other players who can chip in with a goal.
‘But today, I think all three of us did our jobs — especially Moulty with his goals.
‘If we play like that, especially at home, we can beat anyone. Rangers, Celtic, whoever.
‘We won’t be afraid of anyone. Anything is possible.’
Motherwell’s first was so simple. Knocking Craig Samson’s punt on with his head, Bowman caught Moult on his toes. A clinical finish past Remi Matthews on eight minutes set the tone.
Five minutes later, Moult doubled the advantage by planting a back-post header beyond the Accies keeper. The attempts to deny him the chance and Chris Cadden’s initial cross were non-existent.
The third was again instigated by Cadden’s energy down the right. His centre saw McDonald and Bowman have efforts on goal thwarted, only for Moult to show them how it’s done with a thumping strike from 10 yards.
The game had reached an early tipping point. Had Accies not woken up, a landslide defeat was on the cards.
Typically, Ali Crawford stood up to be counted and gave his side hope — and Motherwell something to think about — with a splendid finish.
The next goal of the game was always going to be pivotal. Mikey Devlin flashed a header wide, then Crawford hit the upright with a free-kick. Martin Canning probably anticipated what happened next.
Five minutes after the break, Motherwell’s three-goal margin was re-established.
Bowman was felled by Darren Lyon in the box to win a penalty, but the Englishman’s expectation of being allowed to convert from 12 yards was cut short by a shrill voice on the sidelines.
‘It’s one of those things,’ he shrugged. ‘You win the penalty, so you want to take it. But Moulty, to be fair to him, was going to give me it until the manager shouted that he was to take it as he’s on penalties.
‘It’s only fair. If it was the other way around and it was me who was on penalties, I’d expect to take it. He put it away and we won. That was the main thing.’
A confident conversion under his belt, Moult left the arena on the hour-mark to rapturous applause, doubtless believing the game was done.
Four minutes later, however, Crawford’s second of the day, this one a left-foot volley, added some anxiety to the proceedings.
Louis Longridge and Darian MacKinnon both came close to adding a third for Accies.
Rakish Bingham’s header then required the intervention of Ben Heneghan on the line to keep it out, while only Eamonn Brophy will know why he failed to set-up a grandstand finish by heading wide with four minutes left.
Hamilton’s display defied any analysis. In patches, they were excellent. By full-time, they had created sufficient chances to take something from the game. But those first 21 minutes were utterly woeful in every sense.
‘We effectively started the game 3-0 down. We were chasing it,’ reflected Crawford.
‘The turning point was when my free-kick hit the post. If that went in, it would have been 3-2 and game on. But we didn’t compete early on.
‘They got to 3-0 and they deserved to be three up. We didn’t start at all. It’s something we need to improve on.’
As poor as Accies’ defence was in the opening period, it would be wrong to take anything away from Moult. That’s seven goals in four games already for him. Surpassing last season’s total of 18 seems well within his grasp.