McInnes delight as Killie find killer instinct at last
KILMARNOCK finally got their season up and running after two goals in the space of five secondhalf minutes saw them come from behind to beat Motherwell.
Trailing to Kevin van Veen’s first-half opener, Killie eventually levelled on 71 minutes through the impressive Danny Armstrong.
That set the stage for Ash Taylor to bullet in a header to clinch a much-needed first victory of term for Derek McInnes’ side.
Taylor is proving to be an unlikely hero. The big centre-half scored in last season’s play-off final against Arbroath and also netted a late equaliser against Dundee United on the opening day of the season.
Killie had been wasteful and blew several great chances. It looked like they might regret that profligacy before striking twice in double-quick time.
Motherwell had been chasing a third straight win under new boss Steven Hammell and played well before a late collapse. McInnes, though, was delighted to see his team finally kickstart their season with a hard-earned three points.
He said: ‘It was a strong performance from us. We looked like a good Premiership team in the first half. I felt it was harsh to be behind at the break.
‘We reinforced the belief and reminded them that they are a good team. We wanted to trample over them with intensity and move the ball with speed.
‘We missed chance after chance and it would have been easy for them to think it wasn’t going our way, but we stuck at it.
‘We needed that. It’s good to be up and running.’
Motherwell started much the brighter of the two teams and had a good chance to open the scoring after just eight minutes.
After some slick work down the right flank, Connor Shields picked out a lovely cross to find Dean Cornelius inside the penalty area but he shot just wide of the target.
Motherwell were neat and tidy in possession, knocking the ball around with a level of confidence which suggested the opening goal wouldn’t be far away.
It duly arrived on 14 minutes — and it was difficult to know which was better: the assist from Blair Spittal or the finish from Van Veen. Spittal played an exquisite through ball which split the Killie defence open, but Van Veen still had plenty to do as he went through on goal.
But he shrugged off a challenge from Lewis Mayo before clipping a beautiful finish past Killie keeper Sam Walker, the ball nestling into the bottom corner much to the delight of the travelling support.
Even beyond his goal, Van Veen was looking razor sharp.
Killie were wasteful any time they got a sight of goal. Kyle Lafferty’s best chance came on 28 minutes when he blazed well over.
Ben Chrisene was handed a debut for Killie after signing on loan from Aston Villa — and he almost made a spectacular impact just five minutes before half-time.
The ball was fed to him in acres of space on the left side of the penalty area, but his shot rattled the underside of the crossbar, with Lafferty shooting over from the rebound.
That was by far and away the best moment for the home side in the opening 45 minutes, but they duly sparked into life after the interval.
Winger Armstrong shot just wide of target and Oli Shaw blazed high over the bar after being played in by Liam Polworth.
With Killie battering on the door, it was the impressive Armstrong who eventually found the equaliser on 71 minutes.
Latching on to a cross from Fraser Murray, Armstrong saw his initial effort blocked before prodding the rebound past Liam Kelly in the Motherwell goal.
That roused the home supporters but they had a lucky escape when Ross Tierney blew a great chance to put restore Motherwell’s lead.
From the left side of the penalty area, he tried to place the ball into the far corner but Walker got down well to make a low save to his left.
But the momentum was swinging in Killie’s favour. The winner came on 77 minutes and, as so often has been the case in recent times, it was Taylor who was the hero. Motherwell’s marking was non-existent and, from a Polworth free-kick, Taylor rose powerfully at the back post to plant a header past Kelly.
Fir Park boss Hammell said: ‘The second goal is nowhere near good enough. We shouldn’t be conceding a goal like that at this level.
‘We started well, first 30 minutes we did what we wanted to do and scored a great goal. It was a positive start for us but obviously not a positive conclusion.’