Motherwell under 20s suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Partick Thistle tonight – losing 6-3 in the Development League.
A flurry of goals in the opening fifteen minutes and a first half hattrick from Neil McLaughlin sent the hosts in to the half time break 5-2 down.
And in a quieter second half, the Steelmen couldn’t repair the damage as the visitors saw out the game to take all three points at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie.
The game got off to a hectic start when Blyth looped a header over Conor Cullen, despite it looking like the keeper was set to gather it comfortably.
But before the Steelmen had time to settle, Partick hit back through McLaughlin who controlled a loose ball in the heart of the ‘Well box before stroking it in to the bottom corner and past the helpless Ollie Pain.
Two minutes later and Partick had the lead through McLaughlin’s second of the evening. Stealing the ball deep in their own half, Partick sprung a deadly counter attack, with the Thistle midfielder collecting the ball on the left, driving at the Fir Parkers defence and slipping a neat finish in to the far, bottom corner.
Less than three minutes later and before there was even 15 minutes on the clock, Motherwell should have drawn level when Adam Livingstone’s clever run was picked out by a lofted ball over the defence from Jack McMillan on the opposite flank, only for the left back to fluff his header wide of the mark.
Shea Gordon made no mistake with his header a minute later, nodding a Tom Fry cross in to the far corner to equalise in the 15th minute of the match.
Blyth went close to his second of the night when his towering header flashed inches past Cullen’s far post, just before Partick hit the hosts on the break to take the lead.
Mark Lamont struck the woodwork with a right footed effort but it ricocheted perfectly for Andrew McCarthy to pass in to an empty net.
Two minutes later and Motherwell should have had a penalty. Blyth was at the heart of the action again as he tried to control the ball eight yards from goal, only to be pushed to the deck in what was a blatant foul. The referee waved play on though despite the numerous shouts.
The senior forward nearly drew the Fir Parkers level shortly after the half hour mark, but, from yet another header, he just missed the target.
Dominic Docherty managed to convert a header five minutes later though, rising to nod his header low past Pain from an in swinging McCarthy cross.
The visitors rubbed salt in the Steelmen’s wounds when McLaughlin sealed a first half hattrick. A neat cutback from the right flank fell perfectly for the Thistle man to step on to and power low in to the bottom corner from just inside the box.
The second half got off to a far quieter start than the first. In the first quarter of an hour there was just the one goal compared to the four in the same period in the first half.
Much to the disappointment of the onlooking ‘Well fans it was Partick who drew first blood in the second half, with Nisbet racing through one-on-one and passing low past Pain after he coasted beyond the ‘Well defence far too easily.
Stephen Craigan made a couple of changes in the space of five minutes, replacing Maguire with Armstrong before taking off Blyth for Dylan Mackin.
And the tall striker made his mark just seven minutes after coming on – heading home a cross from Hastie past Cullen in to the bottom corner to reduce the deficit to three.
The Northern Irish coach made his third and final substitution in the 82nd minute, calling on forward James Scott and withdrawing Gordon.
Motherwell U20s: Pain, McMillan, Livingstone, Maguire (Armstrong ’60), Chalmers, Campbell, Fry, Turnbull, Blyth (Mackin ’65), Hastie, Gordon (Scott ’82)
Unused subs: Pettigrew, Agyeman
