Hit-man Murphy finds his range to shoot down Killie

JAMIE MURPHY has never quite carried the air of the assassin.

Talented player, no doubt. A charming chap to chat to over a cup of tea. But a cold-hearted predator of the penalty box, ready to strike out in harder, faster environments when his Fir Park contract expires at the end of the season?

The jury is still out on that one and the fact Murphy, playing behind the front two at the moment, has been made to fill various positions may have played a part in that dubiety.

However, the attack-minded 22-year-old may have found a way to marry the clear technical ability and intelligence he possesses with a tougher edge in front of the target.

Certainly, his two goals in this match, earning Motherwell their first win of the SPL campaign, gave the impression any butterflies that once fluttered around the stomach when presented with a chance have been blown away.

His finishes, which came either side of a Gary Harkins leveller on the half-hour mark, were clinical and composed in the extreme and carved out a merited win for a Motherwell side who were probably just the sharper of the two teams over the 90 minutes.

With Stevie Hammell suspended, Zaine Francis-Angol was handed his first start in claret and amber at left-back and the 19-year-old Londoner made a key contribution after seven minutes.

Harkins, always teasing behind the Killie front two, slipped a low pass into the area that Matthew Kennedy forced into the path of strike partner Rory Boulding just outside the six-yard box.

The former Livingston forward pulled the trigger in good time and released a shot, but Francis-Angol jumped in from nowhere with a well-timed tackle to divert his effort wide for a corner.

Where Francis-Angol’s quick reactions had prevented an opener for the home side, it was some slack play from Lee Johnson, coupled with inventiveness from Murphy, that

KILMARNOCK

broke the deadlock at the other end five minutes later.

Johnson lost the ball 25 yards out and the Fir Park midfielder danced through the rearguard and left himself one-on-one with keeper Cammy Bell.

That’s where the artistry of his play was replaced with the hardened gaze required to become a sharpshooter.

Despite Bell’s efforts to narrow the angle, Murphy remained calm and beat the Kilmarnock goalie to his left with a side-footed finish. With Michael Higdon and Chris Humphrey both going on to threaten the home goal, Killie required something special to get a foothold in the game — and it came through the talented Harkins, a player who could surely have gone on to do much more with a little extra pace.

With 30 minutes on the clock, he gained possession around 35 yards out and moved towards goal.

With the Motherwell defence standing off, and most probably expecting him to play a pass, the ex-Dundee man saw his opening and released a low, left-footed effort from the edge of the area that zipped past keeper Darren Randolph.

However, just seven minutes on, another slip in concentration from Kilmarnock, and further evidence of a new confidence within Murphy, put the visitors back in front.

Higdon, not always hailed for his touch and vision, hit a wonderful pass from the centre of the field that caught the Kilmarnock rearguard square, sending Murphy scampering clean through on goal.

Without breaking stride, he took the ball past Bell inside the area and slipped it into the net.

Murphy flashed a 15-yard effort over the bar 10 minutes into the second half before Randolph was forced to make a one-handed save from substitute Danny Racchi’s piledriver after 62 minutes.

Half-time substitute Adam Cummins made a crucial saving tackle on Boulding as Killie, with new Spanish striker Borja Perez having been introduced on 54 minutes, pushed for an equaliser.

It wasn’t to be, though, and Well could actually have won by more, with Higdon and substitute Fraser Kerr coming close late on.