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U20s boss Jonatan Johansson hailed his side’s professional performance after beating Montrose 4-0 this afternoon.

The Steelmen, who went into the match on the back of four straight wins, looked comfortable throughout and safely progressed after goals from Craig Moore, Euan Murray and a Steven Higgins double.

The Finn called on his troops to adopt a professional and hard-working attitude before the match, and that’s exactly what he got from his men, who will be in the fourth round hat for the first time in over six years.

Speaking to MFC TV, he said: “We did what we set out to do and played some nice football too.

[pullquote]Apart from a small spell in the first half, our superiority shone through and it’s pleasing to go through to the next round scoring four really good goals.[/pullquote]

“Apart from a small spell in the first half, our superiority shone through and it’s pleasing to go through to the next round scoring four really good goals.

“I hope we can continue to do well in this competition as it’s a great thing for a young professional to remember when they get older.

“I was lucky enough to win the Finnish Youth Cup and although, at the time, you don’t think too much of it, when you come to play a final at the National Stadium, it’s something that will live with you forever.

“It’s too early to talk about winning it but it’s a massive prize up for grabs for these boys and we will continue to try and maintain the form we have shown in the last month.”

-WATCH HIS INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV–

The U20s made it five wins from five and safely progressed to the 4th Round of the Youth Cup with a 4-0 win over Montrose.

Steven Higgins opened the scoring for the Steelmen before man-of-the-moment Craig Moore doubled the advantage shortly after.

Euan Murray made the game safe with a third on the stroke of half-time before Higgins added his second, and Motherwell’s fourth, to complete the scoring before the hour.

Jonatan Johansson opted to made four changes to the side that beat Aberdeen at Fir Park twelve days ago.

Max Currie, Adam Cummins, Paul Lawson and Bob McHugh all dropped out, replaced by Ross Stewart, Chris Cadden, Steven Higgins and Dale Shirkie.

‘Well came out the traps flying and Paul McCafferty forced home goalkeeper Cameron Johnston into a good save inside five minutes.

Shortly after, Moore almost opened the scoring with a downward header but once again, goalkeeper Johnston was well placed to make the stop.

It did look like it was more a case of when, rather than if, Motherwell would grab the lead and Steven Higgins did just that after 21 minutes.

Dom Thomas and David Ferguson combined on left flank before knocking it inside for the young striker. He took a touch to set himself before drilling it hard under the goalkeeper into the bottom corner.

Moore almost doubled the advantage just two minutes later but a timely defensive block denied him. From the resulting corner, Murray came close to heading home at the back post but the spinning cross was a yard too high.

The score stayed the same until the 40th minute when Moore grabbed his customary goal – his tenth for the Under 20s already.

The on-form hitman, fresh from his stunner for the first-team yesterday, latched on to a short back past to deftly flick the ball over the outrushing Johnston with his first touch. A great poachers goal and a sign of just how confident the 19-year old is at the moment.

It quickly went from bad to worse for the hosts as ‘Well made it three on the stroke of the half-time interval. Jack Leitch’s curling corner towards the back post was begging to be finished off, and Euan Murray duly obliged, powering a header into the net to all but secure the win.

Johansson replaced goalscorers Moore and Murray at the break but it didn’t appear to have any detrimental effect on the performance.

Indeed, it should have been 4-0 just five minutes after the restart when David Ferguson coolly slotted home Chris Cadden’s cross, only to be thwarted by the assistant’s flag. MFC TV replays would show it was an incorrect call.

It wouldn’t deter the visitors though who scored again shortly after.

Higgins beat the offside trap to get on the end of Morgyn Neill’s pinpoint pass over the top. With enough bounce still left on the ball, he coolly lobbed it high over Johnston and into the net – his fourth of the campaign.

The Steelmen saw out the rest of the match in a professional manner, keeping the ball for long spells. Montrose did have a chance to score though Sam Simpson but, despite racing clear one-on-one with Ross Stewart, he dragged his shot wide of target.

The Fir Parkers will now be in the hat for the fourth round draw for the first time in over six years.

Motherwell: Stewart, Cadden, Ferguson, Murray (Hall – 46mins), Neill, Leitch (McCall – 59mins), McCafferty, Shirkie, Moore (Kellock – 46mins), Higgins, Thomas

Subs Not Used: Currie, Mackin

Motherwell Football Club is inviting youth organisations to come enjoy the matchday experience at Fir Park.

We are looking to build relationships with local Boys Brigade, Girl Guides/Rainbows, Scouts/Cubs, Football Clubs (Boys/Girls) Martial Arts Clubs etc etc.

It is our aim to have at least two youth organisations in for every single match at Fir Park – with a maximum of one application per group, per season.

Chief Executive Leeann Dempster said: “We are Scotland’s Community Club and are always looking to reach out and create relationships with various groups and organisations around Lanarkshire and beyond.

“We have designated family areas which is perfect for kids to come and enjoy football, even if it for the first time.

“We have complimentary tickets available for youth groups available on a game-by-game basis – limited to one per season with the aim of getting as many involved as possible.

“It goes without saying that the groups would need to be efficiently supervised by adults but, as a club, we are keen to get involved and showcase SPFL Premiership football. ”

If you or your youth group would be keen to build a partnership with Motherwell Football Club and claim complimentary group tickets, contact the Ticket Office Manager Wendy MacFarlane on 01698 333333 or email ticketing@motherwellfc.co.uk..

Extended highlights from Fir Park as Motherwell came from behind to beat Hearts 2-1.

-WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV–

Pictures from the 2-1 win over Hearts in the SPFL Premiership at Fir Park.

Snaps courtesy of SNSPix and Craig Foy Photography.

[svgallery name=”hearts191013″]

‘Well boss Stuart McCall was delighted with his side’s resolve after coming back from behind to beat Hearts 2-1 at Fir Park.

Ryan Stevenson scored a deflected shot slightly against the run of play but an inspired substitute saw league debutant Craig Moore smash home a leveller just eighteen seconds after coming on the pitch.

Shaun Hutchinson completed the comeback with a bullet header off an Iain Vigurs corner to confirm the three points and the Steelmen’s fourth consecutive home victory.

The win keeps the Fir Parkers in third place, level points with Inverness Caley (who play Partick Thistle tomorrow) and four behind leaders Celtic.

[pullquote]The lads showed good character and we eventually got the winner I felt we deserved.[/pullquote]

McCall told MFC TV: “I am really pleased; I felt we deserved it over the ninety minutes.

“We thought if we could score first we could zap the life and hope out of them but that didn’t happen.

“In the first half, although we had a lot of the ball and created one or two half chances, we didn’t play at the tempo we want.

“We talked at the interval about how we needed a little spark and that came after the break and I felt we were terrific for the majority of the second half.

“Even although we went a goal down, which can happen on the break, we knew we still had thirty minutes to play. I always felt we would score and we did. It’s a great hit from Craig Moore and I am delighted for him; he has worked so hard.

“The lads showed good character and we eventually got the winner I felt we deserved. It’s a good three points and we are already looking forward to next weekend.”

-WATCH HIS INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV–

[tab:Match report]

 Gavin McCafferty at the Fir Park

Craig Moore scored a spectacular goal seconds into his Premiership debut to start ‘Well’s comeback as the Steelmen edged out Hearts 2-1 at Fir Park.

The 19-year-old former Hearts Academy product fired the ball into the top corner from 22 yards within 20 seconds of coming off the bench midway through the second half at Fir Park.

The strike cancelled out Ryan Stevenson’s 62nd-minute breakaway opener and Shaun Hutchinson headed home with eight minutes left to secure Motherwell’s fourth consecutive home victory.

The entertaining first half followed a slow start to the game as Motherwell, who were without injured wingers James McFadden and Lionel Ainsworth, struggled to break down a Hearts side which pressed them quickly.

Hearts, who were missing left-back Kevin McHattie, set up in positive fashion with Jamie Walker and Stevenson playing up front and Callum Paterson and David Smith on either flank, but they struggled to get out of their half during the first period.

The first pieces of meaningful action were two penalty appeals for handball from the home side around the half-hour mark, the first when Jordan McGhee blocked an Iain Vigurs shot and the second when Danny Wilson appeared to move his hand towards Henri Anier’s cross.

Vigurs had a couple of long-range efforts and soon set up a better chance when he played John Sutton in through the left channel but the striker shot straight at MacDonald.

Hearts created the best chance of the half in the closing stages when McGhee’s pass sent Walker through as the Motherwell defence waited for an offside flag that never came. Gunnar Nielsen, who was making his home debut after Lee Hollis suffered an ankle injury, came out quickly to narrow the angle and block the shot before brilliantly touching over Smith’s close-range follow-up.

Motherwell stepped up a couple of gears after the restart. Sutton headed just wide before seeing another header tipped round the post by MacDonald.
Hutchinson met an Vigurs corner but his header was cleared off the line by Callum Tapping and Sutton hooked the rebound wide.

Scott Robinson came on for the injured Paterson in the 55th minute as Hearts moved to a 4-5-1 and they were soon under pressure again.

Anier had a shot beaten away by MacDonald after a pass by Keith Lasley, who soon drilled a 22-yard shot just wide following a half-cleared corner.

Motherwell were given warning before the opener when Stevenson had a shot saved on the break and Walker ran at the Motherwell defence before firing wide.
But they were caught short at the back when Robinson broke and played the ball out to the left wing for Stevenson, who had peeled off into space.

The forward ran into the box and fired a shot that nicked off Stephen McManus and beat Nielsen at his near post.

The game change with a couple of substitutions, Moore came on in the 67th minute along with Paul Lawson and it paid off instantly. The ball fell for Moore after a cross was cleared just outside the box and the teenager dispatched it in style, smashing a volley high past the goalkeeper after being on the pitch just eighteen seconds.

Motherwell pushed for a winner and it came after another Vigurs corner. Hutchinson made a near-post run to meet the inswinging delivery and headed powerfully down and over the line from the edge of the six-yard box.

[tab:As it happened]

 Alastair Reilly at Fir Park

FT: Motherwell 2 – 1 Hearts

90mins: 4 minutes added on.

85mins: Into the last 5 minutes then……. #nervy

81mins: Corner to Motherwell…….GOOOOAALLLLL! Hutchy bullets in a header to make it 2-1!!!

80mins: Final Hearts change, Nicholson on for Smith

76mins: Hearts sub, Holt on for Tapping

75mins: Motherwell sub: Anier off for McHugh

68mins: Just on the pitch and CRAIG MOORE unleashes a thunderbolt into the top corner from 25 yards! Brilliant!!

68mins: GOOOOOOAAAALLLLL!!!

61mins: GOAL! Stevenson’s shot is deflected past Nielsen. 1-0 Hearts

56mins: Chances coming thick and fast now! Anier from a tight angle forces a good save then Lasley strikes just past from 20 yards

53mins: Hearts sub: Paterson limps off for Robinson

53mins: Good start to this half! Vigurs has a shot saved by MacDonald then Hearts break and Walker can only shoot straight at Nielsen

49mins: McManus and Hutchinson test MacDonald with headers. Should maybe be 1 up after that!

46mins: Stevenson and Walker get the second half underway.

HT: Motherwell 0 – 0 Hearts

44mins: Great double stop from Nielsen to deny Walker !! First one was a solid block, second one was a cracker to tip it over!!

37mins: Probably the best chance so far as Sutton latches on to Anier’s through ball buit on his weak foot fires tamely at MacDonald.

34mins: Another claim for handball after Anier’s flicked on header appeared to strike Hammill inside the box. Looked a decent shout.

31mins: Still 0-0. Hearts have a corner… Smith scuffs his delivery straight to Francis-Angol who clears.

28mins: First corner of the game goes to Hearts. Smith’s delivery is headed clear by Sutton… From that header, Francis-Angol sends Vigurs through on goal and as he cuts back in to shoot, claims that his shot hit a hand!

22mins: Nielsen had to be lively as he raced off his line to clear from Tapping with his knee.

18mins: McGhee does well to slide in and block Anier’s left footed shot. Was hitting the target.

10mins: Fairly even first 10 minutes. Very little in the way of good chances though.

2mins: First decent chance of the game falls to Sutton. He can’t direct his header goalwards from Lasley’s cross, though.

1min: Lasley and Carswell kick the game off.

[tab:Reaction]

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall:

TBC

Hearts manager Gary Locke:

“It’s a hard one to take. I seem to be saying the same things every week.

“I certainly felt we played well enough, playing against a really good side and we more than matched them for 90 minutes.

“We went a goal ahead and at that stage I thought we were playing well, passing the ball well and getting the ball forward well. We looked really dangerous on the counter-attack.

“There is nothing you can do about the first goal, it’s probably the best substitution Macca [Stuart McCall] will make all season, the boy comes on and first kick of the ball, 30 yards, top corner.

“But I’m disappointed with the second one, we have got to defend corners better than that.”

[tab:Man-of-the-match]

[poll id=”163”]

The fifth domestic Steelmen Matchday Magazine of 2013/14 is on sale when Hearts visit tomorrow (Saturday).

But what is inside the 68-page issue?

‘Well boss Stuart McCall and Captain Keith Lasley both return with the regular columns.

Fresh from Scotland duty, Stuart talks about continuing the positive home form this season, which has seen the Steelmen win the last three games on their own patch.

The skipper chats about what he expects from the match and how difficult it will be against a hard-to-predict Hearts.

The feature interview is with experienced full-back Simon Ramsden. The former Bradford defender talks fondly about his time at Fir Park and why he, perhaps more than most, is relishing recent success after thinking his career was under threat just two years ago.

“Rammers” also features as the fifth of a souvenir poster collection in the centre pages.

But that’s not where the features stop!

There is a 14-page section dedicated to our visitors, Hearts.

Ray Morrison introduces the Tynecastle men and there is a player-by-player breakdown of who is likely to line up for the Gorgie side.

We continue our opposition manager section by speaking directly Gary Locke. The Hearts legend turned boss chats about the difficulty in picking up the pieces at Tynecastle and his hopes for the rest of the 2013/14 campaign.

Our guest journalist for this edition is The Terrace Podcast’s resident Jambo Craig Fowler. Craig discusses the torment and torture of supporting the Edinburgh club as they come to terms with life in administration and battling at the wrong end of the table.

We’ll also have a fact-finding piece on ten things you didn’t know about the opposition.

The big features keep coming…

We take a look at Tony Smith’s trip to Kenya where he delivered, amongst other things, Motherwell strips to some of the local school kids.

Press & Media Manager Alan Burrows returns in ‘The Last Word’ and the next round of new quiz, MFC Eggheads, is the Tyne-Weir derby between Geordie Shaun Hutchinson and Mackem Simon Ramsden.

But wait, there’s more!

Our match reports section takes a look back at the 2-0 defeat by Celtic in Glasgow two weeks ago.

There’s also an in-depth report from the Under 20s super 2-1 win at Ibrox recently.

We have the latest from The Ticket Office, Commercial and Community Departments, and update from the Well Society as well as the latest stats, facts and figures from the 2013/2014 campaign.

We also take a statistical look at the match official and detail how your local club can get more involved at Fir Park.

Another new feature is the ‘Junior Steel’ kids page that will test the youngster’s quiz minds with puzzles and ‘Did you know’ facts.

The programme is available for £3 and is will be on sale from the Club Shop as well as the usual sellers located in and around the ground pre-match.

You can also order back editions or take a season-long subscription to the magazine by visiting the website of our publishers – Curtis-Sports – CLICK HERE

Stuart McCall says striker John Sutton has nothing to prove to Hearts and Gary Locke.

The 29-year old striker returned to Fir Park in June after two seasons at Tynecastle and has already netted five times this season.

Sutton has struck up a formidable partnership with on-loan Estonian Henri Anier but McCall doesn’t feel Sutton will be any more motivated than usual against his old side.

[pullquote]I don’t think he has anything to prove to Gary Locke wrong because I know he would have loved to have kept him.[/pullquote]

He told the broadcast press at Motherwell pre-match news conference: “I don’t think he has anything to prove to Gary Locke wrong because I know he would have loved to have kept him. He played him when he was in charge early on.

“He was farmed out to Australia but once when lost [Michael] Higdon and we knew John was up for grabs then it was a no-brainer for me because not only is he a good goalscorer, he’s a good pro and good in the dressing room.

“Even when he’s not scoring he’s a handful, you ask any central defender who plays against him. He gives everything he’s got in every game and you can’t ask any more than that.”

-WATCH HIS INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV–

Referee for this Saturday’s SPFL Premiership clash with Hearts here at Fir Park is Brian Colvin.

Brian will be handling his second Motherwell match of the current campaign, the other being the League Cup Third Round clash at Livingston just over three weeks ago.

Bob McHugh put the Fir Parkers ahead before James McFadden made it two with a deft back-heel flick. Livi reduced the deficit late into stoppage time but it wasn’t enough as ‘Well progressed to the Quarter Finals with a 2-1 win.

Brian took charge of two ‘Well matches last term too.

The first was his first ever in charge of the Steelmen – a 3-1 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park last October.

Jamie Murphy had put Motherwell in a commanding lead with two goals before the break. Nicky Law added a third with a cheeky dink over the goalkeeper before Saints pulled one back late on.

The second was a 2-2 draw with St Mirren at Fir Park. Michael Higdon opened the scoring for the Steelmen only for Connor Newton and Lewis Guy to put the visitors ahead.

Step forward James McFadden with another piece of brilliance from a dead ball, curling a free-kick high past Craig Samson to rescue a point.

In those three matches, he has produced just five yellow cards, two of which were flashed at players in Claret and Amber, and one red for Livi’s Jason Talbot for a reckless lunge at Stevie Hammell.

Brian is no stranger to our opponents having officiated Hearts’ SPFL League Cup win at Raith Rovers back in August; Gary Locke’s men progressing 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw during the regulation time.

It has already been a busy season for the 35-year old. He has handled two fixtures in the Scottish Premiership; St Johnstone’s 4-0 demolition of Ross County at McDiarmid Park and Dundee Utd’s 4-2 success in Dingwall.

He also took charge of Rangers’ 8-0 thumping of Stenhousemuir at Ibrox as well as Scottish Championship matches at Dundee, Dumbarton and Dumfries.

He will be assisted by Francis Andrews and Graeme Leslie with Greg Aitken on 4th Official duty. John Young is the referee observer with Frank Coulston as the SPFL delegate.