ANOTHER afternoon full of hope for Motherwell, another evening of misery to endure. They have had plenty of those this season, and this one - inflicted on them by St Mirren - may rank among the worst.
Not because they were soundly beaten, it was the opposite, in fact, but because this was an opportunity that got away from them on a day of ‘what ifs’. What if Mikael Mandron had stayed fit? What if Trevor Carson hadn’t been so sharp to deny Max Johnston? What if Stuart McKinstry had scored with the last kick of the ball? What if they'd just been a bit better? It could all have been so different.
But that’s a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, and the only certain thing is that just goal difference is keeping them off the foot of the table. At least for now.
Confidence is that great intangible difference-maker, and the match’s opening moments suggested that, while St Mirren had it, Motherwell certainly did not. No surprise, really, given Stevie Hammell’s men hadn’t won a league game since October, and were still coming to grips with losing last week’s game winner Mandron to injury. Talk about luck.
A couple of nervy Ricki Lamie touches nearly had the Saints marching on, before a long throw-in was flicked into a dangerous area by Curtis Main. Amid ‘Well panic, the ball fell into Scott Tanser’s path, who drilled a wonderful effort just wide.
St Mirren were controlling much of the game, moving the ball neatly into encouraging areas through Ethan Erhahon (and looked like the only team capable of doing so), but Motherwell had a few moments. Inevitably, Stuart McKinstry was usually involved, a goal-bound shot needing Alex Gogic’s fine intervention, before his corner was later headed over by Lamie.
That brought a few grumbles of discontent among the home support, but they soon faded when St Mirren got the goal their quality deserved. Paul McGinn, playing on his weaker left side, had initially done well to clear, but fell asleep, allowing Alex Greive to flick a wonderful ball into Ryan Strain’s path. He galloped onto it, threw it across goal, where Main was only too happy to oblige.
Were Motherwell playing badly? Truthfully, not really. It was just all so meh from Hammell’s men, with Sean Goss and Callum Slattery struggling to get to grips with Erhahon and Mark O’Hara in the middle. They also lacked variety in their play, too often falling back to pelting the ball vaguely in the direction of either Kevin van Veen or McKinstray and hoping one of them could magic it into a goal. The boos at half-time from the sizeable travelling support said it all.
That’s not to say St Mirren - who were without Keanu Baccus - had an iron grip on the game, but they at least had gears to work through, and strings to their bow. If it wasn’t Strain making the run, it was Greg Kiltie. If it wasn’t Main threatening, it was Greive or even O’Hara.
A Lamie header, which flashed wide within moments of the restart, teased the reaction the baying visiting support was hoping for; only for the game to revert back to the flow of the first half. When Goss’ raking pass had a little too much on it for Blair Spittal, his teammate’s look of disgust didn’t exactly scream unity either.
At least Motherwell were finally beginning to make some headway. Connor Shields - who was, perhaps unfairly, booed by his own fans when he was taken off minute later - drove beyond Tanser and cutely teed-up McKinstry, only for the Leeds United loanee to dither, giving Charles Dunne time to clear. Shields’ replacement, Ollie Crankshaw, then nearly motored beyond the Saints defence, but Marcus Fraser recovered.
Worryingly for Hammell, time was also beginning to motor on, and results elsewhere were hardly helping. His team at least had a modicum of control, and Crankshaw was doing his part. Another run once again had St Mirren - who inexplicably had lost all control on the game - at sixes and sevens, before his pass found Max Johnston. Trevor Carson, another of the former ‘Well men, did brilliantly to deny him, swallowing the ball at the second attempt.
The comeback never did materialise, however, and rather just petered out until Carson's heroics somehow denied McKinstry with one of the final kicks of the game. Sometimes it's just not your day, but Motherwell can't have too many more of them this season, or they’ll be spending the next one in the Championship.
