Michael Wimmer’s first match in charge at Fir Park was a game to remember, with his side recording a 2-1 win over Dundee in the William Hill Premiership.
If ever a match merited the tag of being a six-pointer, a goal in each half from Dan Casey either side of a Simon Murray sealed a deserved victory to open up a seven-point lead over the Dens side in 11th place and hauled the Fir Park side to joint equal with St Mirren.
For his first match at Fir Park, Wimmer made three changes to his starting line-up.
After the narrow defeat at Tannadice, the new Well boss included defender Dom Thompson, midfielder Kai Andrews and Callum Slattery from the start, with Johnny Koutroumbis, Ewan Wilson and Tawanada Maswanhise stepping down to the bench.
Although Luke Armstrong was the lone forward, the five-man midfield with Lennon Miller and Slattery in a forward role immediately had the Dens men contained in their own half.
The German coach was equally committed, and within five minutes, he had called Ellery Balcombe to the touchline and issued new instructions.
Soon after, there were loud appeals for a penalty as Slattery, shielding the ball 16 yards from goal, was bundled to the ground, but neither referee Lloyd Wilson nor VAR thought it was worthy of an award.
After 11 minutes, Miller progressed towards the visitor’s box before his shot was deflected for a corner. Andy Halliday swung the flag kick into the box, where Casey, unmarked, powered his header inside Jon McCracken’s right post for the perfect start.
The Motherwell players looked rejuvenated, allowing Dundee no time on the ball, snapping into tackles and distributing the ball quickly.
Armstrong, free in the box, just failed to get on the end of a swift and decisive move as the Dens defence was opened up.
Another drive from Miller earned another corner, but although Halliday again found Casey’s head, the Well defender could only direct the ball straight at the keeper.
From another Dundee corner, a quick break upfield was started and finished by Stephen O’Donnell, as the fullback watched his shot from 20 yards palmed over the bar by McCracken.
As the team was warmly applauded by Well fans at the interval, the only disappointment was that the side had only one goal to show for its efforts and domination of the first half.
Dens boss Tony Docherty brought on experienced defender Joe Shaughnessy to try and steady the visitor’s defence.
But Well still carved out a couple of openings with Tom Sparrow involved in both.
Firstly, his low ball across the six-yard box just evaded Miller and Armstrong before the Well midfielder dived to meet Thompson’s cross, only to steer his header wide of goal.
The Steelmen then had an anxious wait as Dundee’s claims for a handball in the box required a long check from VAR before the referee allowed play to continue.
As the second half progressed, the Taysiders found their attacking threat, as Well were forced to defend deeper into their own half.
Fresh legs were required, especially in a tiring midfield, and in the 70th minute, Wimmer made a triple substitution, sending on Harry Paton, Davor Zdravkovski and Maswanhise to support Armstrong up front.
After 78 minutes, and just as Moses Ebiye waited to replace Armstrong, Dundee grabbed the equaliser.
A ball over the top sent Oluwaseun Adewumi down the right, and when he slid the ball past the advancing Balcombe, it found Murray sliding into the six-yard box and squeezed the ball over the line.
Motherwell immediately responded, and when O’Donnell’s cross found Ebiye eight yards in front of goal, he might have done better than head the ball into McCraken’s waiting arms.
Six minutes from time, Casey showed the Nigerian forward how to finish.
Paton evaded a couple of challenges to make his way down the left, and when he crossed into the box, Casey met it sweetly with his left foot, thundering the ball low past the keeper.
That set up a tense additional seven minutes, but it wasn’t backs to the wall from the home side as they continued to chase a third goal, with Zdravkovski and Maswanhise coming close.
Motherwell Team: Balcombe, O’Donnell, Gordon, Casey, Thompson, Sparrow, Slattery, Miller, Halliday, Andrews, Armstrong.
Motherwell Subs: Ward, Koutroumbis, Balmer, Zdravkovski, Paton, Wilson, Ebiye, Watt, Maswanhise.
