Motherwell fall out of top six as Cerny keeps them at bay
MOTHERWELL slipped out of the top six and they have now won only one of their last 12 league matches — but will have spent last night wondering how they failed to claim all three points at Fir Park yesterday.
It was a match they largely dominated and the fact that the most impressive performer was Partick Thistle goalkeeper Tomas Cerny tells its own story.
The one consolation for the Steelmen was that their refusal to give up produced the late leveller which at least denied Alan Archibald’s side a first win at Fir Park since 1996.
‘Trevor Carson hasn’t had a save to make the whole match but we didn’t deserve the three points because we didn’t mark properly from a free-kick,’ said home boss Stephen Robinson.
‘We are a young team and we switch off and make mistakes at times but the person who made the mistake will recover from it. We had a lot of opportunities but they weren’t clear-cut.
‘There wasn’t a lot in the game but we edged it on chances.
‘You can’t give Kris Doolan that much time because he doesn’t miss from there.
‘It’s a disappointing way to concede a goal because we pride ourselves on being organised. The rest of the lads dug in and that’s a big positive.’
Thistle were weakened before the game had even started when Conor Sammon, who had netted five times in his last four appearances, was forced to call off due to a death in the family.
Yet they could have gone ahead in 14 minutes when Miles Storey raced to the byeline and picked out Ryan Edwards but, under pressure from Tom Aldred, the midfielder headed over from inside the six-yard box.
Cerny had done well to keep out a header from Nadir Ciftci but neither side started particularly brightly.
Curtis Main was guilty of a poor finish seven minutes from the interval when Craig Tanner’s ball over the top left the striker with only Cerny to beat. However, his half-hearted chip lacked height and power and the goalkeeper was able to scramble it to safety.
Fortunately, the second period was more eventful than the preceding 45 minutes. Cerny threw himself to his left to push away a downward header from Ciftci and, two minutes later, the visitors broke the deadlock.
Richard Tait was cautioned for a foul on Edwards on the far touchline but he paid a heavier price when Martin Woods fired in the resulting free-kick to the far post, where Doolan stole in to nod home.
Main was convinced he had equalised in the 74th minute when he headed beyond Cerny after Ciftci had helped a freekick into his path but, to the fury of the home support, the goal was ruled out for offside.
The home side surged forward in waves, however, and the goal they merited finally arrived with ten minutes remaining.
Charles Dunne had overlapped on the left flank, he cut it back for Carl McHugh and the skipper made a significant contribution by winning the ball 20 yards out and threading it through to Ciftci.
The on-loan Celtic forward still had it all to do but he used his strength to both hold off and turn his marker, Adam Barton, before sending a low, left-foot shot past Cerny from 16 yards.
Even then, the Jags could have won it at the death when substitute Blair Spittal’s shot took a wicked deflection off Dunne and spun behind home keeper Carson but bounced on the wrong side of the far post.
‘I thought we should have won it,’ said Archibald. ‘Our shape was reasonably good, we looked comfortable and we dealt with a lot of balls into the box. We should also have dealt with the one at their equaliser and kept Ciftci away from goal but he had a half-chance and he put it away.
‘There wasn’t a lot in the game and it was probably horrible to watch but we more than matched them in every area of the pitch. It was an even contest but we should have closed it out.’
MOTHERWELL (3-4-1-2): Carson; Kipre, Aldred, Dunne; Cadden (Petravicius 88), Campbell, McHugh, Hendrie (Tait 46); Tanner (Frear 55); Ciftci, Main. Subs (not used): Griffiths, Grimshaw, Bigirimana, Rose. Booked: Tait, McHugh. PARTICK THISTLE (3-1-4-2): Cerny; Keown, Barton, Cargill; Osman; McGinn, Edwards, Woods, Dumbuya; Doolan (Spittal 84), Storey. Subs (not used): Scully, Erskine, Devine, Penrice, McCarthy. Booked: Osman, McGinn, Dumbuya, Edwards. Referee: Nick Walsh. Attendance: 4,607.