Motherwell and Hearts produced a goalless stalemate to consign both sides to the bottom half of the league for the rest of the season.
The result satisfied none of the seven and a half thousand fans that had turned up expecting a rip roaring battle for the prize of a top six place. What they saw was plenty of hard work and commitment but it was a game short on quality.
Hearts will feel the pain more than Motherwell as they peppered the ‘Well goal in the second half but failed to convert. For the home side Stephen O’Donnell and Dan Casey formed a formidable barrier to the visiting attack. Johnny Koutroumbis joined the defence after twenty minutes as Kofi Balmer limped off.
Craig Gordon was untroubled throughout the afternoon. Motherwell’s inability to fashion a threat until the end of the added time is a failing that Michael Wimmer will have to address as a priority when he refreshes his squad in the summer.
Tony Watt and Tawanda Maswanhise joined the starting eleven but service to the pair was poor and they spent more time pressing that attacking. Watt had a couple of half chance, both wide of the target. By the end of proceedings five changes had been made to little effect.
The sides cancelled each other in the first half but in the second the visitors had the balance of play and Ellery Balcombe had to be on full alert.
Hearts also made full use of their bench and that included the addition of Lawrence Shankland after the break. His chance of glory came deep in added time but in front of the big travelling support his shot across goal was wide.
As the manager mentioned in his post match remarks the point gained will be valuable as Motherwell now have to ensure that they remain well away from the play-off spot.
Motherwell 0 Hearts 0
Attendance 7,481
Team: Balcombe, O’Donnell, Balmer (Koutroumbis 20), Casey, Thompson, Halliday (Andrews 60), Sparrow (Tavares 70), Slattery (Paton 80), Miller, Maswanhise, Watt (Armstrong 70)
Saturday 12 April 2025