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It was win or bust for our top six hopes.

This is the Story of the Match from the visit of St Johnstone.

Motherwell put up a fight but lost out to Spartans for the second week in succession.

Goals late in the first half from Elena Santoyo-Brown and Zoe Johnstone put the hosts in control at the interval, but Donald Jennow’s side fought their way back into contention in the second 45.

Claire Adams’ goal gave hopes of a comeback, before Georgie Rafferty’s red card was followed by a decisive strike from Becky Galbraith to seal a 3-1 win for Spartans.

Morgan Hunter, Kirsten Rolph and Caitlin Russell all dropped out from the team which lost at Ravenscraig to the same opponents in the SWPL Cup last weekend, with Anna Vincenti, Natasha Roberts and Mhairi Fyfe all taking their place.

The first clear chance at Ainslie Park fell to the visitors. A corner kick was met by Kerry Montgomery in the air, but her header sailed over the crossbar.

Down the other end, Spartans came close from chances from Clelland and Santoyo-Brown, before the latter broke the deadlock with five minutes left in the first half.

Douglas played through the scorer, who was able to slot under debutant ‘keeper Vincenti.

Just minutes later, it was two. Clelland’s cross from the right fell to Johnstone, who swept home to double the hosts’ advantage.

The second half saw the visitors get back into things when Adams struck, but Motherwell’s task became the more difficult when Rafferty saw red soon after.

They then saw hopes of a comeback extinguished, as Becky Galbraith headed in Tara McGonigle’s cross to seal the points.

Motherwell: Vincenti, Knox, Roberts, Rafferty, Crilly, Montgomery, Rice, Adams, McEachran, Fyfe, Gardner.

Subs: McManus, McLeod, Trialist.

Donald Jennow expects to see a reaction from his side when they take on Spartans for the second time in seven days on Sunday.

The women of steel suffered a highly disappointing 5-0 defeat against Debi McCulloch’s team at Ravenscraig last weekend.

Five goals in 20 first half minutes put the tie out of sight and Jennow admits he was shellshocked by his team’s below par showing.

A return to league business against their last opponents presents an opportunity for ‘Well to bounce back and the head coach is stressing the need for a much improved performance.

“I think last week caught us all a bit off guard,” he said. “It’s not a reflection of my team and so as group we have to put it down to a bad day and make sure that that kind of thing doesn’t happen again.

“After Monday’s analysis we put the game to bed and the focus has been on the next game since then.

“It wouldn’t matter who it was against, we know we have to play better.

“Scottish football often throws up these back to backs which can work either way for you.

“Ultimately the next game is a chance to prove last week was an anomaly.”

In a game where positives were few and far between, one glimmer of light for Motherwell was they didn’t concede again after Zoe-Ann Johnstone put Spartans 5-0 ahead after just before the half hour mark.

Jennow insists he has no doubts regarding the resilience within his squad, but feels they must improve their focus.

“I would hate anyone to see my team chuck it,” he added. “That would hurt more than any scoreline.

“We had a bit of a melt down for 20 minutes and that killed the game.

“After the half hour we created chances and did a bit better, but the damage was done.

“Resilience isn’t a concern for me with this group but we need to concentrate more. The unexpected part of Sunday’s game was our performance.

“After defending well against Celtic and being really competitive, we did neither in against Spartans.

“We all know the consequences of not doing those two things so we all expect to improve.”

After registering four points from their opening four league encounters, ‘Well occupy fifth spot in an already tightly contested SWPL1 table.

Though Jennow insists he’s paying little attention to the table at this early stage he is well aware of the importance of making the most of scoring opportunities.

Motherwell have failed to score in their last three games and Jennow knows that his team need to be more clinical.

“The table is irrelevant to me right now,” he added. “Everyone has played different teams in different conditions.

“The table matters in the final round of games once everyone has played home and away.

“All our focus is on the next game and we want as many points from each game as we can.

“Taking chances is massive for us. Top tier teams don’t give you as many and don’t make as many mistakes so you have to work that much harder to create.

“When we do the work to get a chance, we need to capitalise.”

Motherwell go for silverware in the Reserve League Cup final against Heart of Midlothian on Monday, 1 April.

Kick off is at 7pm and tickets can be purchased now online.

You can also buy from the ticket office at Tynecastle on the night.

Entry for adults will cost £5, with over 65s and under 18s paying £2. Under 16s can get in for free.

Maurice Ross’ side topped their group, defeating Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Queen of the South and Greenock Morton to finish with a 100% record.

St Johnstone were then overcome by the youngsters in the semi-final, setting up the final clash with the Gorgie side.

See the best of the action as Motherwell keep in touch of the top six with an emphatic victory over St Johnstone in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Goal scorers Elliott Frear, David Turnbull and Richard Tait speak as Motherwell keep top six hopes alive with a win over St Johnstone.

Stephen Robinson says his Motherwell side deserve to still be in top six reckoning after victory over St Johnstone.

The boss praised his side’s patience, before inspiring second half play saw the team’s quality shine through in the end.

Motherwell kept their top six dreams going with an emphatic 3-0 victory over St Johnstone.

Second half goals from Elliott Frear, David Turnbull and Richard Tait sealed all three points, keeping the Steelmen within five points of Hibernian with two games to go.

A difficult first half saw the hosts have plenty of the ball, but struggle to break down a Saints defence which sat in and stood firm.

Chris Kane had a glorious chance early on for the visitors, before they were given a penalty for a foul which was hotly contested.

With anger rising, Mark Gillespie got down early to keep out Liam Craig’s spot kick effort to keep his clean sheet.

The second half saw a scrappy opening 20 minutes, before the introductions of Frear and the returning Chris Cadden sparked Motherwell’s attacking play to life.

Dunne’s pass into Main’s feet saw the big striker hold off his marker, spin and play in Frear, who curled his first-time effort into the far corner of the net.

Ten minutes later, it was two. Campbell was the creator, laying in Turnbull who played a tidy finish past Zander Clark.

Then, in stoppage time, skipper Richard Tait cut in from the left side and placed a bouncing shot into the far right corner of the net.

Richard Tait says there’s no reason Motherwell can’t achieve the goal of reaching the top six of the Ladbrokes Premiership table.

A win is needed for the Steelmen against St Johnstone on Saturday afternoon, as both sides fight to catch Hibernian in sixth spot.

Stephen Robinson has urged his Motherwell team to end their top six battle with St Johnstone with “no regrets”, as they chase a win to stay in the reckoning in the Ladbrokes Premiership’s top half.