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Motherwell were on a high after their magnificent 1-0 win over Dundee a couple of weeks ago, and the Fir Park men started the match stronger and had a couple of half chances within the first five minutes, but they failed to make any impact, and the Livingston defenders coped well.
Livingston were forced to make an early change when on-loan midfielder Brian Kerr broke his leg after a challenge with Motherwell’s Lasley, a challenge that was 100% accidental, but will prove to be costly for Kerr as he will now return to Newcastle and will be out for several months. Francisco Quino replaced Kerr, and looked to make an impact early on, but to be honest, the Spaniard first few touches were shocking.
It was Livingston who nearly scored against the run of play three minutes later, when Burton O'Brien's quality highball found captain Stuart Lovell, but his bullet of a header glanced just passed Gordon Marshall’s post. A half chance for the Lions, but if Lovell would have scored from a header from there, serious questions would have to be asked of the Motherwell goalkeeper.
Motherwell were lucky not to have a man sent off when Clarkson lashed out at Rubio in front of the referee and linesman, but the inconsistent crew failed to spot the young thugs kick and Rubio, and some Livi supporters were left baffled by the decision. At this point the Motherwell supporters were shouting for everything, and nearly given everything, maybe the referee was concerned about the alloys on his car getting nicked, because he definitely was a homer.
Motherwell took the lead in the 28th minute, and it was a strike that no goalkeeper in the land would have got to. The Lions failed to take the threat seriously when Clarkson received the ball 25 yards out, and he fired a thunderbolt right into the top corner of Roddy McKenzie’s goal, and sent the Motherwell crowd wild. A great goal from Motherwell’s point of view, and nothing much McKenzie could have done.
This seemed to fire Livingston up, and at this point of the match, the Lions were the better side. Livi were playing some crisp, classy football, Motherwell were getting frustrated, and so were their supporters. The Livi midfield was overpowering Pearson, Partridge, Craig & Leitch and a Livi goal was surely going to come.
Motherwell’s Clarkson was booked after a disgraceful dive in the 32nd minute. Motherwell have a decent side without scum like this trying to cheat their way to victory. Its people like this who deserves to get injured, not innocent players who always play by the book. Stuart Lovell was booked three minutes later, but looked shocked as it was his first foul of the day. The ref at this point looked as if he had lost it, but I don’t really think he has ever had it.
The Lions equalised in the 40th minute when some great play down the right hand side, saw the ball dummied by David Fernandez and Derek Lilley’s 20 yard strike wormed its way past Marshall and into the back of the net to send the Livi faithful wild. Great play, great goal, and now time for some great hot dogs, as the half time whistle sounded.
The sun had gone down by the time we got back to our seats for the second half, and the Fir Park floodlights lit up the park. Maybe that’s what put off Motherwell’s Clarkson who could have scored his and Motherwell’s second of the afternoon after only 90 seconds of the second half. Stephen Craigan's deep cross found the striker unmarked in the penalty box, but he miss controlled and the ball was cleared to safety by the Livingston defenders. A near miss, and Livingston had started the second half very shaky.
The match at this point turned into a dire affair, both sides cancelled each other out in the midfield, but Livingston nearly went ahead in the 62nd minute via a Lee Makel free kick. The Englishman fired his 25 yarder towards Gordon Marshall’s goal, but the swerve on the ball was too much, and the ball just squeezed past the post.
Motherwell introduced ex-Lion Alex Burn into the match on the 70th minute mark, and that seemed to spark the Fir Park crew on. Motherwell had the ball in the back of the Livi net, but only after the linesman had flagged for offside, and to be honest, the Livi defenders had stopped, and so had McKenzie.
It was Motherwell who would threaten again with only six minutes to go. Pearson was on the left hand side being marked by Andrews, the young Scot managed to nudge the ball past Marv, but the Trinidad and Tobago star tripped him, and referee Underhill had no hesitation in awarding the free kick in a very dangerous area. It was Hammell to lined it up, and calmly curled the ball around the Livi wall, but before it could hit the top corner of the net, Roddy McKenzie was on hand to scoop the ball away from the goal, and he managed to grab a hold of it. A quality save, and a save that possibly gained the Lions a point.
The Motherwell crowd erupted two minutes later when the home side thought that they had won the match. Rubio and Lasley wrestled for the ball in front of the linesman, the linesman raised his flag for a foul, the referee thought that he had given a foul to Motherwell and waived play on as Lasley broke free, he fired the ball into Alex Burns, who put the ball past McKenzie in the Livi goal. The crowds celebrations were short lived as they realised that the linesman had gave the free kick to Livingston and not Motherwell.
Hammell did have one last chance for Motherwell, but his 25 yarder was comfortably smothered by McKenzie and the Lions went home the happier side.
Man of the match - Roddy McKenzie