Most Motherwell fans recognised that we fielded a young side against St Mirren last Sunday but the average age took another dip as Law and Hutchinson were replaced by Page and Carswell.
We were on our feet inside five minutes when Hetherington' free kick was headed home by Higdon at the back post but the offside flag quietened the celebrations. Another tempting delivery from Hetherington gave Page a chance but he was off target.
Levante responded and pinned us back for a lengthy spell but we coped well enough with a series of corners. We had a let off midway through the half when Juanlu had a couple of near misses - the second following an error from Page but we replied with a 30 yard blast from Hammell just wide of the post.
The interval arrived without loss and there was every reason for the team to be satisfied with the performance. They had matched Levante, pressed and chased when out of possession and also created a few chances to grab the opener.
Hetherington was booked a minute into the second period before Randolph was called into action. A Gekas header was defected and the 'keeper had to throw himself full length to make the save. Our main threat came from crossed balls following free kicks and the next one came when captain Lasley had to leave the pitch after a knock. El Zhar was next to test Randolph on the hour when he was clean through but the block was good and we survived.
The 400 Motherwell fans delivered plenty of vocal support throughout the game and they saw McCall make a double substitution with just over twenty minutes to go. Humphrey and McHugh came on as Carswell and Ojamaa made way .
Unfortunately we conceded within five minutes. Juanlu's low driven cross was met by Gekas at the near post and his volley make the aggregate score 3-0. Hammell was replaced by Francis-Angol but the game was gone.
The one disappointment was that in four attempts we came nowhere near a goal. Still, lots of young players gained valuable experience and if we can use that in the SPL for the rest of the season then we might have more foreign trips next year.