Well done as super sub Stevie wins it at the death for Saints
MOTHERWELL 1 Carey (og, 90+1)
ST JOHNSTONE 2 Murphy (27), May (90+4)
Whoever the Motherwell board appoint as Graham Alexander’s successor in charge at Fir Park faces a long, hard season as they attempt to keep the Steelmen in the top flight.
They beat St Mirren on the opening weekend but were outplayed that day and needed a soft penalty plus an outstanding goalkeeping display from Liam Kelly to snatch the three points.
On this occasion they dominated possession and looked to have salvaged a draw when Saints midfielder Graham Carey diverted Stephen O’Donnell’s header from a Sean Goss corner into his own net in the first minute of added time.
However, three minutes later sloppy defending allowed the Perth men to win it at the death. Motherwell failed to clear their lines at a corner and Stevie May was first to react when Ryan McGowan headed the ball back into the danger area, placing it beyond Kelly’s outstretched left hand from six yards.
It was a hammer blow for Well interim manager Stevie Hammell but it sent the 347 travelling supporters into ecstasy as they claimed their first victory of the season.
May was shown a yellow card for running to them after his last-gasp goal but he couldn’t have cared less.
This was a feisty affair, with some meaty challenges at least partially compensating for the lack of flowing football.
Saints skipper Melker Hallberg picked up the first caution in the 12th minute when he cleaned out Connor Shields but, even that early, there had been worse challenges that had gone unpunished.
Saints broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when Theo Bair cleverly chested a cross from McGowan into the path of former Motherwell and Rangers winger Jamie Murphy and he placed his angled drive inside Kelly’s righthand post from the far corner of the penalty area.
Motherwell came close to an equaliser when Shields struck the base of a post with a shot on the turn from 20 yards but the visitors held on until half-time.
Hammell had clearly seen enough by then, replacing the ineffective Barry Maguire and Josh Morris with Dean Cornelius and Joe Efford at the break.
The switch almost reaped an immediate benefit when Kevin van
Veen sent Efford in on goal, but an outstanding sliding challenge from Alex Mitchell nicked the ball away from the American.
Home sub Ross Tierney squandered a great opportunity to haul his team back into it when he was picked out by Shields’ inviting cross but the striker couldn’t get enough on his header to divert it behind Remi Matthews.
Tierney and the Well fans behind Mitchell’s goal screamed for a penalty when he went to ground following a challenge from McGowan but the referee was right not to point to the spot.
In fairness to the hosts, their second-half display was a big improvement on the opening 45 and Mitchell did well to claw the ball out from underneath his bar after Goss shot into the ground and it looked as though it would loop over him and into the net.
Motherwell are toothless at the moment, though, and their failure to create more clear-cut chances will be a concern, given how often they were on the ball after the interval.
Saints were under the cosh but were mostly comfortable defending crosses into the box. The home side rarely managed to get behind the visitors for cutbacks, which might have proved to be more productive than hopeful high balls.
On balance, Callum Davidson’s men fulfilled their roles better.