The fact that both elevens won is maybe testament to the fact that the strength in depth at Motherwell is maybe better than many feared. It could also be because the eleven at the Globe Arena did have their share of breaks of the ball.
One thing that became apparent that wasn’t in Tuesday night’s game agaonst Newcastle is that Gunnar Neilsen is a fine goalkeeper when it comes to shot stopping. Morecambe peppered his goal with shots varying in distance and apart from one bit of rank bad luck he came out on top every time.
Motherwell started with two trialists, Chris Gadi wore number 7 and was a very industrious right winger who certainly wasn’t shy to put his foot in. His running, whilst not as fast as Humphrey, had enough pace to torment the defenders he was up against. Sadly his crossing did not always match his endeavour on the ball or his workrate but he certainly looked like someone who could do a job for us.
The other was Henre Anier who had 80 minutes on Tuesday and another 75 or so today. He also scored the opening goal after being fed in by Vigurs. He needed three touches, one to control, one to pass the keeper and one to gleefully knock it home.
No doubting Motherwell were better on the ball than their hosts, however their directness and pace caused problems at regular intervals and when Vigurs cheaply lost the ball it led to the leveller. A low cross was swung in and it looked like the centre forward was going to get a free hit but somehow he managed to completely miss his kick to allow the ball to ricochet of McManus’s shin past Neilsen.
Anier should have made it 2-1 to Motherwell after a mix up in the Morecambe defence left him one on one with the goalkeeper but he flashed his shot wide of the post.
At half time Toni Silva replaced Chris Gadi and he also looked useful. In the early knockings of the half his touch was a bit wonky but he settled down to a nice game including a lay off to Vigurs whose poor technique caused his shot to raise over the bar.
Vigurs returned the favour nine minutes from time and Silva’s shot may have been going wide but a defender whacked it out for a corner to make sure. The second half was pretty dismal as a spectacle but Jack Smith, yet another trialist, headed the winner with the last kick (well, last touch!) and despite a great attempt to claw it clear the assistant gave the goal. Silva knocked the rebound in anyway so the Motherwell win was assured.
With a 5-0 win at Cowdenbeath to go with it a decent afternoon’s work, the only concern is that McFadden was taken off with a knock at Central Park so we’ll need to wait and see if he is ready for Europe on Thursday week.
Morecambe 1-2 Motherwell
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