MOTHERWELL went three points clear at the top of League Cup Group G as Jon Obika’s fortuitous first-half goal was enough to see off an impressive Queen’s Park outfit.
Here are the talking points from Fir Park…
MOTHERWELL NEED MORE UP TOP TO COMPENSATE FOR LOSS OF KEVIN VAN VEEN
Motherwell striker Obika spoke earlier in the week about wanting to step up to the plate for his team now that Kevin van Veen and his goals have left the building, and in fairness to the forward, he did get his goal here by hook or by crook.
He had earlier passed up a glorious chance as he somehow headed Stephen O’Donnell’s cross wide of the target from two yards with the goal gaping, but he made amends as his nice run in behind to latch onto Callum Slattery’s first-time pass was rewarded with a huge slice of luck to break the deadlock.
His shot was of the powder-puff variety and looked to be heading for the grateful arms of Queen’s goalkeeper Callum Ferrie, but a deflection off defender Will Tizzard saw the ball wrong-foot the Spiders number one and find its way into the net.
The man who has been brought into the club to fill Van Veen’s shoes didn’t show too many glimpses of what he might bring to the party, as summer arrival Connor Wilkinson was well-marshalled by the visiting defence.
There were one or two promising pieces of hold-up play, but he was a little eager to get in behind early on and too easily caught offside, perhaps owing to the fact that he looked to be lacking the pace to get away from defenders.
Early days, of course, but it is little surprise that Fir Park manager Stuart Kettlewell is still looking to strengthen in that area of the pitch.
RISK BUT NO REWARD FROM QUEEN’S PARK TOTAL FOOTBALL APPROACH
Queen’s Park manager Robin Veldman is clearly a disciple of the total football philosophy that his nation is so famed for, with the Dutchman’s side producing some lovely periods of passing in a first half in which they dominated the ball.
For all of the nice patterns of play though, the pass at all costs diktat is a high-risk approach, and his defenders in particular are clearly still trying to get to grips with it. Time and again they played themselves into trouble, and it seemed that a largely lacklustre Motherwell’s best chances of scoring would come from pressing their opponents high up the pitch.
The hosts should have made more of the several openings that Queen’s coughed up to them, Slattery’s thunderbolt off the bar the closest they came to punishing the visitors from such an opportunity.
After the break, Charlie Fox presented Obika with another golden opportunity as he passed the ball across his own six-yard box past his own keeper, but the Ferrie recovered just in the nick of time to get a toe to the ball and play it off the Motherwell striker and over the bar to safety.
Queen’s also failed to really open up the Motherwell defence during their spell of domination, with Dom Thomas’s deflected effort that was saved well by Liam Kelly the closest they came to scoring in the first half.
Despite an improvement from Motherwell after the interval, Queen’s did create a wonderful opportunity on the counter to equalise as Thomas’s low cross was somehow missed by Barry Hepburn at the back post.
Still, there was a lot to admire between the boxes in their approach to the game, and if they can iron out the creases it may well be an entertaining season for followers of the Spiders.
LET-OFF FOR ‘WELL WITH VAR NOT IN OPERATION
For all that VAR has certainly had its critics, there was a strong argument that Queen’s would have been offered the chance to equalise from the spot had the technology been available here as Thomas’s cross cannoned off the outstretched arm of Motherwell defender Pape Souare in the second half.
With the way that the handball rule was implemented last season, it definitely fell into the ‘seen them given’ category, but referee Steven Maclean waved away the appeals from the visitors and there were no replays to fall back on as the Steelmen got off the hook.
