An early Blair Spittal goal and Kevin van Veen’s 25th strike of an incredible season all but guaranteed Motherwell safety and launched Kilmarnock into a three-way battle for survival.
Results elsewhere means only one point separates Killie and Dundee United from bottom club Ross County and Derek McInnes’ men can have no complaints about failing to notch only their second away league win of the season. They were second best to a ‘Well outfit who played some decent football in patches, even if the match was scrappy and punctuated by fouls.
Killie’s fans had turned out in big numbers - more than 1800 of them - and were making all the noise as the teams ran out but were kept waiting as referee Kevin Clancy sorted out his comms with the VAR booth. Within four minutes, though, it was the Motherwell fans celebrating the opener. Sean Goss did well winning possession in the middle of the park before sending James Furlong away on the left. The youngster’s cut back found Blair Spittal in space 14 yards out and he drilled a low angled shot past Sam Walker.
Killie needed a quick response and almost got one in the 13th minute when Danny Armstrong’s 20 yrd free kick clipped the outside of Liam Kelly’s post with the keeper rooted to the spot.
Van Veen had the ball in the net in the 16th minute before the crowd had a ridiculous four minute wait to see if it would be disallowed for offside. It eventually was ruled out and another check for a possible red card by Sean Goss for a foul on Alan Power in the build-up was also rejected.
If the quality had been poor before the break, a magnificent piece of skill by van Veen three minutes into the second half had the Well crowd on its feet. The Dutchman allowed a long diagonal from Sean Goss to float over his shoulder then half volleyed a back heel into the path of Spittal, whose goalbound shot was saved by Walker’s legs as he dived the wrong way.
Walker kept his side in the game with another top save, from van Veen this time, after the striker turned Joe Wright inside out before curling his effort towards the keeper’s bottom left hand corner, only for the Englishman’s fingertips to divert the ball to safety.
Killie tried to launch a rescue act late on but it was all scraps in the box and Motherwell continued to look the more likely on the break. And Paul McGinn should have killed it off three minutes from time when he hit the post from close range and watched the effort rebound into Walker’s arms.
Van Veen showed him how it should be done in injury time, pulling a Kelly clearance out of the sky, turning inside Wright again and sliding home the goal his performance deserved. Motherwell celebrated at the end, while Killie still have so much work to do.
Back to earth
Kilmarnock might have thought they’d turned a corner with their away form last time out when winning in Paisley but they reverted to type today and rarely looked like getting anything from the game after losing the early goal. They face a long, hard battle to avoid the play-off or worse and you get the impression that six points from their next two home games against Livi and St Johnstone are a must.
Dutch mastery
Motherwell played with the confidence of a team that didn’t have much to worry about and the quality of van Veen, allied to the workrate of the likes of Goss and Slattery in midfield, was a cut above their opponents. Some of van Veen’s touches were a cut above and his goal thoroughly deserved.
VAR frustrations
Yet another frustrating VAR afternoon with more than four minutes taken to make a call in the first half. Allied to Kevin Clancy holding up the start for five minutes as he tried to get connected to the booth and it all added up to a long afternoon.
