Motherwell eased into the 5th round of the Scottish Cup but had to rely on Tawanda Maswanhise’s 15th goal of the season to see off a stubborn Ross County.
Securing their eighth consecutive clean sheet at Fir Park in the process, the Steelmen secured safe passage to the next round.
Kicking off their Scottish Cup campaign, Jens Berthel Askou made alterations to the side. Luca Ross was handed his first Motherwell start under Askou, with Matty Connelly also drafted in between the posts. Johnny Koutroumbis was handed a start following his impressive display seven days ago, with Callum Slattery, Liam Gordon and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos restored to the 11, also making it six changes in total.
Despite the Dingwall men propping up the Championship table, they boasted a wealth of experience in their squad as Stuart Kettlewell returned to Fir Park hoping to lead his side to a cup shock. The County boss also had three former Steelmen – Trevor Carson, Dean Cornelius and Jordan White – in his starting line-up with James Scott on the bench.
Motherwell immediately adopted their now familiar game plan, with Connelly patrolling an area about 15 yards outside his area as the home side pinned the visitors into their own half.
The Steelmen had plenty of possession around the County box but failed to get in behind a tight, well-organised defence in front of Carson’s goal.
In the 18th minute Maswanhise finally found himself free, cutting in from the corner of the penalty area. His fierce drive sped past Carson, but Alex Iacovitti brilliantly denied the Zimbabwean, bravely heading the ball off the goal line.
Other than that it was a case of half chances, with Slattery’s drive from 25 yards easily held by Carson. Said and Maswanhise then worked a 1-2 at the edge of the box before the Nigerian striker was rushed into shooting wide from 15 yards.
Although the Dingwall side were happy to defend in numbers, they caused a bit of a scare after 36 minutes when Connelly was at full stretch to push away Ryan Duncan’s low drive.
The half ended with County content to have contained their Premier opponents and ‘Well searching for a little spark to prise open their visitor’s defence.
From the restart, though, it was the Highlanders who looked more adventurous with a couple of forays into the Well box.
The first chance of the half, though, came at the other end. Ross did well on the left before sending the ball across a packed box. When the ball found Maswanhise, his effort on the half volley was partially blocked, allowing Carson to gather.
That was the last involvement for the Well teenager, as, along with Stamatelopoulos, he made way for Elijah Just and Lukas Fadinger.
That injected a much-needed control and pace into the game, and it almost paid off immediately. Fadinger worked the ball in from the left towards Sparrow, some 20 yards from goal, and his well-struck drive was touched over the bar by Carson.
The pressure on the Staggies’ keeper was mounting, and when Maswanhise’s low drive from the edge of the box took a slight deflection, the former Well stopper produced a fabulous one-handed save to keep the scores level.
The parity only lasted a couple of minutes until the 62nd minute, when the Steelmen finally made the breakthrough.
Fadinger’s drive from 20 yards was on target, but Maswanhise’s touch from the middle of the box sent the ball beyond the despairing Carson.
A few minutes later, Askou freshened up the side with another double swap, bringing on Emmanuel Longelo and Jordan McGhee for his first home appearance.
Motherwell still needed a second to kill off a stubborn county, and it should have arrived after 77 minutes. Just burst into the box on the right, but his low drive with his weaker right foot was blocked by Carson.
In the hope of sending the tie into extra time, Kettlewell sent on former Well striker James Scott. And it was his cross into the box five minutes from time that set up Kieran Phillips. His rising shot from 12 yards was destined for the top corner until Connelly sprang to his right to push the ball round the post as the Fir Park men survived a nervy finish.
Motherwell Team: Connelly, Koutroumbis, O’Donnell, Gordon, Ross, Priestman, Slattery, Sparrow, Said, Maswanhise, Stamatelopoulos.
Motherwell Subs: Oxborough, McGinn, McGhee, Thomson, Longelo, Fadinger, McAllister, Just, Osong.
