Watt a blow for Hibees as they fail to stop rot
HIBERNIAN 1 Nisbet (33) MOTHERWELL 1 Watt (60)
Jack Ross last night called for his players to be clear-headed as the pressure mounts.
Held here in a game in which they led, the Premier Sports Cup finalists have now just taken just four points out of the last 21 available to them.
And with three matches up against sides in the bottom of the half of the table – Livingston, St Mirren and Dundee – up next, the manager admitted his team now need to start winning.
“Even prior to today we looked at this four-game period in the league and we wanted to win all four games,” he said.
“Because we know where that would propel us in terms of the league table again. It would take us back up into an area where we have been for a long time, but we have drifted away from in the last period.
“So, we haven’t done that with the first game, we’ve just taken a point.
“The cup final’s different, but the league games are absolutely vital for us, in terms
of putting us back into an area of the table where we need to be – not where we should be.”
Hibs had Matt Macey to thank for keeping them in the game in the early stages as Motherwell pushed forward to try to build on the momentum of their midweek success against Dundee United.
The Englishman pulled off four good stops, the first from Dean Cornelius followed by three more to deny Tony Watt.
That was crucial because it allowed his side to cash in on their second chance worthy of note.
Josh Campbell swung a great cross into the box and it caught the Motherwell defence cold with Kevin Nesbit racing through unchecked to power a volley into the net.
They had been warned. Nisbet had also been the man on the end of their previous effort, flashing a header wide from a ball in by Chris Cadden.
Graham Alexander’s side had looked a little dispirited as they walked off the pitch at halftime but they did not have too long to wait for before getting themselves back on level terms.
Just as in midweek, it was Watt who made the key contribution.
Bevis Mugabi’s shot was cleared only as far as the edge of the box and the striker sent a right foot shot in off the post for his ninth league goal of the season.
It helped improve the game as a spectacle – Hibs went for it from that moment on.
They found themselves up against a Motherwell team determined to defend what they had.
Stephen O’donnell and Jake Carroll both made crucial blocks just in front of their goal line to thwart Campbell and Nisbet respectively.
Then, when Campbell beat all-comers with a thunderous effort, Liam Kelly was bailed by the woodwork with the ball bouncing down and out from the underside of the crossbar.
The keeper got his chance to make an important contribution, though, saving low to his left from Nisbet as the clock ticked down.
With Hibs unable to produce another chance anywhere near as good, it meant the afternoon ending in frustration for the home support with a few boos ringing out as the referee blew his whistle for full time.
“I would have felt aggrieved if we had gone away with nothing,” said Motherwell manager Graham Alexander.
“I think in the first half we had some brilliant chances and we should have been in the lead at half time instead of a goal down.
“But we didn’t want to feel sorry for ourselves and make it a bad luck story today, we had to go and make it happen in the second half.”