Motherwell put themselves in the driving seat in Group G in the Premier Sports Cup, beating Stenhousemuir 1-0 on Saturday at Ochilview.
A first-half goal from captain Stephen O’Donnell was enough to secure Jens Berthel Askou’s first victory on the road.
The manager made six alternations for the second game running going into the match. O’Donnell, Kofi Balmer, Andy Halliday, Tawanda Maswanhise and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos all came into the starting 11.
In torrential rain, Motherwell set the tone early, knocking the ball around nicely on the slick turf. The first opening came inside ten minutes when Callum Slattery put an inviting cross into the box, and Maswanhise connected well, but the effort was tipped over the bar by the Stenhousemuir keeper Darren Jamieson.
The game was played largely in the Stenhousemuir half, with Tom Sparrow getting in behind on more than one occasion, but the Steelmen weren’t able to finish his crosses into the box.
Halliday opted to go for goal from around 30 yards on 30 minutes, but the midfielder’s strike didn’t really unsettle Jamieson between the sticks.
The next big chance came on 39 minutes. Slattery and Halliday stood over a free kick from 20 yards, with the former stepping up. Getting the ball up and over the wall, Slattery’s strike was excellently stopped by the keeper. To everyone’s amazement, the referee awarded a goal kick.
Motherwell continued to probe and eventually found a way through just before half-time. Slattery’s corner made its way to the back post, where O’Donnell was there to knock the ball home in front of the 1000 away fans.
During the second-half, the weather conditions improved, and Motherwell continued to assert their dominance in the game. Elijah Just whipped in a delightful ball on 54 minutes, but the ball met the head of Stenhousemuir defender Greg Buchanan, and the ball ricocheted towards the goal. Jamieson had to pull off a wicked save from 10 yards to deny the Steelmen a second.
The manager made some changes, introducing Luca Ross, Eseosa Sule and Johnny Koutroumbis. Sule was unfortunate not to net his first Motherwell goal on 64 minutes when he got on the end of Slattery’s cross, but once again, Jamieson was there to block.
Balmer was next to go close. He rose highest in the box from Halliday’s corner, but the ball was cleared off the line by the Stenhousemuir defenders before it crossed the white line.
Having had largely nothing to do all game, Matty Connelly was almost denied his first clean sheet for the club. Stenhousemuir Anderson should have converted to level the game in stoppage-time but to Motherwell’s delight, he couldn’t keep the effort on target, and Motherwell would come away with the win.
Motherwell Team: Connelly, Sparrow, O’Donnell, Balmer, Wilson, Slattery, Halliday, Fadinger, Just, Maswanhise, Stamatelopoulos.
Motherwell Subs: Ward, Koutroumbis, McGinn, Gordon, Longelo, Ross, Watt, Said, Sule
