Motherwell 0 Aberdeen 0

Last updated : 03 January 2005 By Footymad Previewer
Motherwell started the game in quick fashion with a swift break in the
first minute that ended with a Richie Foran header over the bar from six yards.

The big holiday crowd created a Cup tie atmosphere, and the players responded. 'Well forced two corners with Jamie Paterson seeing a shot blocked
from the first and Foran heading wildly over from the second.

Aberdeen took a grip of midfield, and Barry-John Corr in the home goal had to be at
his best to keep them at bay. He was first called into action after 17 minutes
when he saved well from Darren Mackie, who had been sent clear by Kevin McNaughton.

The keeper then had to be alert in the five minutes leading up to the
break, first to keep out Phil McGuire and then Richard Foster.

The second half took 15 minutes to burst into life, with Aberdeen coming close with Corr having to punch out a Markus Heikkinnen header from a Chris Clark corner. At the other end Ryan Esson made a couple of comfortable saves from Marc Fitzpatrick and Foran.

At the midway point Fitzpatrick was sent clear by Scott McDonald's clever
pass, but again the youngster was denied and his effort was cleared for a corner.

The game almost boiled over with five minutes left when McNaughton was
injured and play stopped as Well broke. The referee stopped play, but the
ball was not returned to Well. This was followed by a cynical hack by
Morrison at Kevin McBride, which led to a major melee.

Well had one last chance in the dying stages, but McDonald could only
fire into the hands of Esson from close range.

Both managers were disappointed that their team had failed to win but
felt that at the end of the day a draw was probably a fair result.

Motherwell boss Terry Butcher said: "I was angry at my team for not winning, but at
the same time we could have lost the game. We are currently on 30 points and
fifth in the table and I am not happy. That just shows how far we have come
this season."

His opposite number, Jimmy Calderwood of Aberdeen, added: "We should have
won based on the first half as we created three or four clear chances,
which has been the story of our season.

"I was happy with the first half, but the second was very poor and it was very frustrating, but a draw was probably fair at the end of it all."