Ainsworth stars in big Motherwell win
Looking at this weekend’s fixtures, it was inevitable that a Lionel would get the headlines. While Messi had one of his quieter Clasicos, it’s perhaps understandable that he felt in the shadow of Lionel Ainsworth’s performance 48 hours earlier.
Believe it or not, in a pretty even first half the two outstanding moments both came from Hamilton players. First, the impressive Marvin Johnson made one of many bursts down the left wing and put in a lovely cross that for all the world looked like it could only result in a Motherwell goal. With Lee Erwin waiting at the back post to tap it in, Jesus Garcia Tena somehow managed to slide in a knock the ball behind when it looked easier to score a classic he-had-to-do-something own goal. Shortly afterwards Dougie Imrie hit an exquisite volley off the post, and every time I watch a replay of it I’m sure that this time it’s going to go in.
After half time however, Ainsworth single handedly ended the game as a contest with two goals within a minute. A lot of credit for the opener should go to Keith Lasley whose quick free kick gave Ainsworth a valuable couple of seconds to set himself for the the perfect combination of control and power which saw his shot fly in from 30 yards. His second, a few seconds later, was a classy finish at the back post that could easily have gone badly wrong, but compared to what he had done 93 seconds earlier, it looked like a tap in.
Hamilton were done after that, and Well broke almost at will with Ainsworth, Johnson and Erwin all linking up nicely. When Hamilton did attack they always looked hamstrung by having the isolated and immobile Jason Scotland up front. Their night was summed up by two frustrated challenges; one by Darren Lyon that led to a deserved red card, and luckily didn’t do serious damage to Johnson, and one by Ziggy Gordon that conceded a late penalty that put the icing on Motherwell’s cake.
I’m not sure why the clubs at the bottom have waited until this stage of the season to start playing, but if Motherwell can ensure this wasn’t a one off performance and continue as the attacking threat they were on Friday night then they won’t go down. For Hamilton, the game was a microcosm of their season; a bright first half followed by a bit of a collapse. They will do well to stay in the top six this season and it will be interesting to see what they can do over the summer to recapture the form and spirit we saw before Christmas, because if they can’t, then they may well be representing Lanarkshire in next season’s relegation battle. IM
All aboard the St. Mirren relegation express
I wonder how much effect the Motherwell win on Friday night had on St. Mirren's psyche? They went to Perth already four points adrift at the bottom, and they'd have had to be Vulcan to not feel under pressure. After the 2-0 defeat, Gary Teale put it best himself: "we got bullied right from the start to the finish". The epitome of this was Brian Graham; the big striker has been out of favour in the last few months, but, coming in from the left flank to support Steven Maclean, he outran and outmuscled the opposing defenders repeatedly. In addition to his opener (which led to another memorable Jim Goodwin tantrum), he spurned several chances, mostly with his head.
The Buddies were hopeless with high balls into the box all day long, with Goodwin, a defensive midfielder pressed into service in the backline for months now, relentlessly targeted. Worryingly, his partner Viktor Genev looked no more comfortable. Ultimately, the second goal came from a corner, with Steven Anderson fighting off all challengers to smash home a header in the six yard box. And, on another day, St. Johnstone could have scored a few more.
Teale has set the Buddies a target of 12 points from their remaining 8 games - I'm not actually convinced this would be sufficient, but in any case their fate could be sealed even before the split, as their last two matches before it are against Motherwell and Ross County. And before that, any confidence regained during the international break could well be smashed, as next up are Celtic. LS
McIntyre and County are on fire
At Queen of the South, Jim McIntyre had a lot of joy with a high energy pressing game, which allowed his side to win the ball in advanced positions. They would then work the ball well down the flanks, with the ball delivered into the box from good positions near the byline. Well, it's only taken about six months, but, going by Ross County's current form, and the impressive manner of their win over Kilmarnock, McIntyre has finally got his new club playing like that as well.
It's not always pretty or subtle - just look at the first goal, which would make Wimbledon afficionados blush. But the chance came because Liam Boyce was willing to unsettle the Killie defence, and the ball broke kindly for the onrushing Michael Gardyne. One wonders if Gary Locke did his homework before this game - for weeks County have got joy from Gardyne coming in off the right, with Raffaele De Vita tending to tread the touchline on the opposite flank, but the visitors were woefully ill-prepared for this. Gardyne nearly got another goal, and Craig Curran should have converted the rebound; the latter redeemed himself by converting the former's cross, though Kilmarnock were convinced there was a foul in the buildup.
County are hardly the finished article; they looked vulnerable once they had to replace the tired legs of Curran, Boyce and Gardyne, and even more so once Lee Ashcroft had grabbed a late consolation. But incredibly, given their horrendous first half of the campaign, they are the form team in this league - 16 points from the last 6 games, after only 12 from their first 24 games. Whilst Motherwell are still close to them, it's time to stop worrying about automatic relegation. LS
Celtic. Dundee United. Yawn.
Heck, I've been in Lanzarote for the past week, and even I'm sick of Celtic v Dundee United. So were the players, going by the second half of the fourth part of the saga, which was almost as tedious as The Phantom Menace. Ironically, this was the first of the four games in which Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven were allowed to play, so it was no surprise that they were the two freshest players on the park. GMS made up for lost time by scoring the first, setting up the second and winning the free-kick that led to the third. Not too bad.
It was no surprise that United looked utterly jaded; it was the same in the midweek cup replay thumping here at Celtic Park. Since their two stars left on deadline day, they've looked tired and listless, not least because they have a small and relatively young squad. They've had to play eight games in thirty-six games, and haven't won any of them. The trouble for them is that the season isn't over yet by a long shot. They have ten more league matches to play, and whilst the team above them in third, ICT, also look dead beat, would you bet on United to recover enough to challenge them? In fact, how confident would you be that they'll hold off the likes of St. Johnstone? LS
Dundee are Aberdeen's bogey team
Once again, Dundee derailed an Aberdeen bandwagon. Having previously knocked the Dons out of the Scottish Cup and brought an end to their earlier streak of eight consecutive wins and clean sheets, the Dees drove the final stake into the heart of this season's title challenge.
It was a bright start for the Dark Blues, with Stephen McGinn central to their play. His early chip into the box led to Paul McGowan getting clattered into the back by Jamie Langfield, who was lucky to have got enough on the ball to avert a possible penalty decision - though frankly Clangers probably got more of McGowan than he did of the ball.
It was Aberdeen, instead, who took the lead. Ryan Jack won a header in the Dundee half and found debutant Andy Driver, who himself drove towards the box before slipping in Adam Rooney to beat Scott Bain. The lead could have been doubled before the break when quick feet in the box from Jack set up Niall McGinn, who neatly flicked the ball up to volley a shot on goal that was blocked by the raised arm from Willie Dyer. The only thing more dire was the officials' inability to spot what should have been a clear penalty. Bain was then called on to deny Rooney early in the second half.
Dundee, to their credit, tried to press the Dons more in the second half, and were rewarded following a mistake from the otherwise impressive Jack, who needlessly tried to keep the ball in play with a blind backheeler. Alex Harris duly seized upon the opportunity to whip a cross in for Stephen McGinn to score at the near post. Aberdeen may still have won the game late in the day, only for the outstanding Bain to this time deny Niall McGinn.
Martin Ingram (MI) is our Aberdeen Correspondent. Legend has it that he is the tallest man in the Red Army. He writes regularly for Aberdeen fanzine The Red Final.
Iain Meredith (IM) is technically a Rangers fan, but these days he tends to support them ironically. He only agreed to help with this blog because now he can tell his wife that he's "only watching the game to help a friend out".
Lawrie Spence (LS) has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.
Andrew Sutherland (AS) occasionally writes for When Saturday Comes. He would never miss an ICT match unless he was offered a date with the lead singer of CHVRCHES...who he would then take to said ICT match.
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