McGHEE MOURNS MISSED CHANCE
MOTHERWELL manager Mark McGhee bemoaned a handful of missed opportunities in a decidedly underwhelming match as his side squandered a chance to leapfrog Kilmarnock into the Ladbrokes Premiership’s top six.
McGhee’s side were booed off at the end by a section of the Fir Park support, but it seemed more down to frustration than anything else.
It was not a vintage encounter but his side were clearly the better of the two and could easily have won with just a little more composure in front of goal.
‘If you don’t take your chances, you don’t win games. We had a couple at the end of the first half and a couple in the second half,’ remarked McGhee, who served the first match of a two-game ban in the stand.
‘That was disappointing, but the game itself was fairly mediocre.
‘We had people missing while Louis Moult and Scott McDonald nearly never started. They were last-minute declarations.
‘Chris Cadden, who has been influential, was missing and Stevie Hammell was also out, so we were a wee bit out of sorts.’
The match nearly got off to a disastrous start for the Lanarkshire side. Keith Lasley attempted to clear the ball at the edge of his own box, but it cannoned off Stevie Smith and squirmed just wide of goalkeeper Craig Samson’s left-hand post.
From then on, the home side established themselves as the dominant force. Ross MacLean played a sharp one-two with Moult on 20 minutes before shooting wide, and Stephen McManus saw claims for a penalty turned down a little later after an effort from inside the area had struck Luke Hendrie.
‘I would be lying if I said it was a definite penalty, but you go by your gut feeling. My gut feeling was that, when I struck the ball, it hit the boy’s hand,’ said McManus. ‘Whether it is intentional or not, I don’t know, but you claim for it.’
McManus had been the subject of Kilmarnock cries for a spot-kick in the opening stages of the game when getting in the way of a Rory McKenzie shot, but those claims did appear weak. ‘It hit me in the chest,’ said the Motherwell centre-back.
Killie’s only proper effort of the opening 45 came when Souleymane Coulibaly sent a first-time effort over the bar from a Greg Taylor cross, but Motherwell ought to have taken advantage of two excellent chances in the moments before the interval.
First up, a great move involving Moult and McDonald sent MacLean straight through on goal. His effort was too close to keeper Jamie MacDonald, though.
Seconds later, Lionel Ainsworth was presented with a clear chance on the right side of the area but he slashed his shot into the side netting.
Moult was next to spring the offside trap when moving onto a forward pass from Craig Clay and haring into the area on 65 minutes. Credit, however, must go to central defender William Boyle for an excellent last-gasp tackle which resulted in a corner-kick.
Nathan Tyson was presented with a clear opportunity for Killie when moving on to a Jordan Jones cross directly in front of goal but his effort was easily saved.
Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark revealed afterwards that his absent centre-half Miles Addison faces an operation on a groin problem later in the week.
‘He’ll have surgery on Thursday and I hope he’ll be back for the Cup game against Hamilton in January,’ said Clark.
‘We are down to the bare bones in central defence but our two lads grew in to the game and coped well against a right handful in McDonald and Moult.
‘It was a tight game and a result that’s indicative of what the league is all about.’