An injury-time goal from substitute Conor Wilkinson earned 10-man Motherwell a 3-3 draw at home to Dundee. Here are five things we learned from the game:
Motherwell are battlers but they need more quality
For the second game in succession, Motherwell didn’t let their heads drop after falling behind late in the game to eventually fashion out an equaliser to settle a crazy, topsy-turvy game. Conor Wilkinson’s strike was perhaps just reward for their endeavour and helped settle a Fir Park home crowd who could barely contain their simmering resentment when it looked like their team were on the brink of another defeat.
This was an 11th game without a win for Stuart Kettlewell’s side and, although they’re not in real trouble just yet – the point lifted them up to eighth – they will need to find a way to win if they’re to put breathing space between them and the teams below them.
Kettlewell had spoken about the importance of building on last week’s hard-fought draw with Celtic and his players looked in the mood early on. They didn’t have to wait long before going in front, Mika Biereth driving in his fifth goal from six league games to continue his impressive loan spell from Arsenal.
After a comfortable start, however, Well were picked off twice before half-time in quick succession. The first goal – well finished by Lyall Cameron – came after the home side had failed to clear a corner. The second owed much to the excellence of Owen Beck, although Dundee were able to get down Motherwell’s left too easily before Beck’s skill created the opening for him to shoot.
Motherwell were wasteful with second-half chances – Jon Obika missed a glorious opening – before Bevis Mugabi’s header drew them level. That all looked in vain when Zach Robinson put Dundee back in front just two minutes before the end only for Wilkinson to atone for an earlier miss by sliding in the equaliser.
Plenty of promise from Dundee
Newly promoted teams rarely enjoy an entirely smooth transition but on this form Tony Docherty’s side ought to have few feal relegation fears as they returned to the top six despite the loss of that late equaliser.
That was a source of understandable frustration given how well they had played for long spells of the game only for elements of wastefulness and carelessness to deny them the victory they merited. In players like Cameron and Beck there is a lot to be excited about and Docherty has made a solid start to his first frontline managerial role.
International Focus
One player would have had more interest than the rest in finding out Scotland’s fate in the Euro 2024 draw after he had traipsed in from the cold and turned on the TV. Liam Kelly is one of those on the fringes of things, in with a decent chance of making Steve Clarke’s squad but not guaranteed of being on the plane either. Much will depend on the fitness of Craig Gordon once he returns to the Hearts team, with Angus Gunn a certainty to be involved and Zander Clark also likely to travel. All Kelly can do is continue to play well for his club although he was given little chance to showcase his skills here. Left exposed at all of Dundee goals, Kelly had no other significant saves to make throughout what must have been a frustrating 90 minutes. Given Motherwell’s ongoing struggles, however, he can expect to be busier in the games ahead.
Rookie Ref
This was a big day for Iain Snedden, thrown in to take charge of his first game in the Premiership and his first with VAR in operation after a diet of lower division and cup matches. It all started fairly smoothly, with nothing contentious around the first three goals scored and keeping his cards in his pocket until late in the first half when Calum Butcher was booked for a heavy challenge.
Dan Casey was next to be shown yellow – again he could have no complaints – before VAR Nick Walsh decided to get involved in proceedings, taking an eternity before allowing Motherwell’s equaliser to stand and then calling Snedden over to take a second look at Harry Paton’s tackle on Luke McCowan that was upgraded to a red.
Pitch Perfect
The old Fir Park surface used to get slaughtered by all and sundry, with its massive slope and a pitch that seemed to become waterlogged at the slightest rainfall. No more. Despite the surrounding area having been hit with the same heavy snow that fell all across the country, there was no prospect of this game ever being called off, with the pitch looking immaculate and the ball running well when play got underway. Hats off to the Fir Park groundstaff for their hard work in producing and maintaining one of the best surfaces in the league.
