Bah humbug! Goal was dull game’s only bright spot
MOTHERWELL 0 ST MIRREN 1
JACKSON (68)
It is the season of goodwill.
But Motherwell fans were left cursing their side’s generosity as St Mirren snatched a first away win of the season.
Simeon Jackson’s second-half strike lit up an otherwise dismal contest at Fir Park.
Victory moved St Mirren three points clear of basement boys Dundee, and put them within two of 10th placed Hamilton Accies.
But worryingly for Motherwell, the Buddies are now just six points behind them – and assistant manager Keith Lasley admitted they are in danger of being dragged into the relegation scrap.
“We’re absolutely involved in the fight – of course we are,” he said.
“Any talk of looking above us is based on us finding some consistency.
“Until we do that, we know we’re in a battle. There’s no doubt about that.”
Both teams struggled for quality right from the start of yesterday’s contest. It took 16 minutes for the hosts to register the first corner kick of the game.
It set the tone for the rest of the first half by coming to absolutely nothing.
St Mirren’s only real moment of note before the break came when Stephen McGinn floated a free-kick to the back post, only to see it chested behind by Motherwell’s Charles Dunne, who won a free-kick in the process after being nudged in the back.
From then on until the interval, Motherwell had the best of it.
Carl McHugh volleyed wide from 25 yards after a typically scrappy midfield exchange, while David Turnbull should have seen his teasing cross buried with the net gaping.
Curtis Main blew the Steelmen’s best first-half opportunity on the half-hour when he mistimed a leap and sent a free header looping weakly into Dean Lyness’ arms.
It was slack, it was sloppy, it was niggly.
Let’s be blunt – it was rank rotten.
Then, 12 minutes into a second half that began as uninspiringly as the first had ended, the game burst into life.
Two substitutions in two minutes by St Mirren boss Oran Kearney – Adam Hammill for Cody Cooke and Cammy Smith for Ryan Edwards – were the catalyst.
The Buddies, sluggish and reactive before, suddenly looked full of energy – and they snatched the lead on 68 minutes.
Simeon Jackson was the man who smashed home from close range, but Smith’s fresh legs laid the groundwork with a 25-yard break and shot that Mark Gillespie’s touch took straight into Jackson’s path.
Motherwell needed a reaction – and they got something approaching one.
Main, having seen that firsthalf header saved, looked hungry to atone, and he came close twice in three minutes, first with a shot that was deflected wide at the near post, then with a point-blank header that Lyness somehow saved, and a defender somehow cleared.
With Ryan Bowman and Connor Sammon thrown on, Well went desperately in search of an equaliser – and almost found one at the death when Turnbull’s near post header looked set to nestle in the net.
Lyness’ incredible stop sealed a huge win for St Mirren.
For Motherwell, however, it was a sickening full-stop at the end of a dreadful afternoon.