ROBBIE NEILSON was delighted as his Hearts side followed up Thursday night’s Europa Conference League win with a 3-0 win over Motherwell.
Lawrence Shankland gave the visitors the lead at Fir Park before Alan Forrest left Stevie Hammell’s men with a mountain to climb as he coolly slotted home to double his side’s advantage.
The former Ayr United and Livingston attacker swept home a third in second-half stoppage time to seal a convincing victory for the Gorgie outfit.
“I was pleased,” Neilson said. “We spoke after the Riga game about getting yourself ready go again on Sunday – and we did that.
“We created some chances, they created some chances. We were lucky enough to take our chances.
“Looking at the bigger picture, we’re competing in European football, sitting second in our group – and we’re still third in the Scottish Premiership. So we’re still where we want to be, where we want to try to push from, while still competing Europe. That’s really, really important heading into the international break.
“Three goals made at Ayr United! It was good to see the rapport between Shanks and Alan, they’ve come in and really taken the group, the players really like them and they do great for us.
“I like their pathway of coming up from the Championship and doing well in the Premiership, then coming to us. It shows that’s a great pathway for players in Scotland.”
Motherwell started the contest in encouraging style, attacking with a real sense of swagger as they looked to seize the initiative early on. A Kevin van Veen shot from distance that grazed the post was the closest they came to opening the scoring before Shankland did just that at the other end.
It was a goal that Ricki Lamie will not want to see again in a hurry. The ’Well centre-half missed his header as the ball was lofted forward and Shankland made him pay. The centre-forward’s initial effort was saved by Liam Kelly but he turned it in at the second time of asking when the goalkeeper’s parry fell at his feet.
Motherwell then fluffed two excellent opportunities in as many minutes. The first, a square ball that rolled invitingly into Van Veen’s path, was scuffed by the Dutchman from just a few yards out. The second was even more gilt-edged; right-back Paul McGinn stormed forward, played a clever one-two to create an opening in the box, then blazed over from close range.
The Steelmen went in at the break still chasing the game and only an astounding miss within a minute of the restart kept things that way. A flicked header for the home side rebounded off the woodwork and the rebound fell to McGinn, who contrived to hit the far post from a couple of yards out despite having the entire goal to aim for.
That missed opportunity would be punished within minutes as Hearts doubled their lead. Shankland did well to hold the ball up in the box with his back to goal before teeing up Forrest, who took a touch inside before calmly slotting the ball into the bottom far corner.
Motherwell needed a goal, and there was only one man for the job. The roof just about came off Fir Park when Louis Moult was brought on with around 25 minutes to go, making his first appearance since returning on loan to Lanarkshire. He had the ball in the net within a matter of minutes when he prodded home Van Veen’s shot at the back post, only to be denied by the linesman’s offside flag.
The home side would keep up the pressure but Hearts’ defence wouldn’t be breached as the capital outfit rose to third place in the Premiership. A superbly-struck effort from Matt Penney required a stunning stop from Craig Gordon, and the same man cracked the crossbar with another effort from 35 yards a few moments later. Try as they might, it just wouldn’t go in for Motherwell.
There was still time for Forrest to grab his side’s third of the afternoon. An excellent through ball from Stephen Kingsley released Stephen Humphreys in behind the Motherwell defence, and the substitute selflessly squared the ball to Forrest to turn the ball into the unguarded net.
“It hurts,” said Hammell, having watched his side hit 26 shots without scoring. “Three nil at home hurts. I don’t think that was a reflection of the game.
“I felt that we created enough to get something from the game. I will watch it back but we just need to be more clinical.
“It’s been the story of the last three or four games. We created more chances today than we have all season.
“We hit almost 30 shots on goal, we hit the woodwork three times and every player had a chance to score and we have come away with zero. It’s no secret what we need to work on.”
