Well Spell Had Mark Speechless

Nov 4 2007 Scott Mcdermott At Fir Park

MOTHERWELL 1

ST MIRREN 1

BEMUSED Well boss Mark McGhee revealed how his side's magical first-half display left him speechless.

But the Fir Park gaffer didn't have three points to shout about at the end either as his stars ran out of gas and Stewart Kean snatched a draw for never-say-die Buds.

McGhee admitted it was an amazing display from his troops who went from "mesmerising" their gaffer to hanging on at the death for a point.

But he reckons they put so much into the opening 45 minutes - when Chris Porter fired them ahead only for Kean to reply - they had nothing left in the tank to go on and win.

McGhee said: "Our football in the first half was mesmerising at times, absolutely fantastic. I couldn't even speak when the players came into the dressing-room at half-time.

"But our biggest problem is finishing teams off.

"We get into great positions but don't create enough clearcut chances and at 1-1 there's always a danger of losing - and we nearly did.

"They put so much energy into the first part of the match but didn't kill St Mirren off.

You can't keep that going for 90 minutes and I was glad when the final whistle blew.

"The average distance run by a striker in an SPL match is 12.5km but David Clarkson must have run 15km and you're asking a lot to keep that up.

"However credit St Mirren. They dug in, showed great spirit and could have won it at the end."

Porter was delighted to notch his sixth of the campaign but urged his team-mates to start chipping in.

He said: "I'm not overjoyed with my goals return but not too disappointed either - I just always want more.

"We created chances again and should have had the game won. But it's not just the strikers. A lot of chances are falling to midfielders and it's up to the whole team to try to get on the scoresheet."

Motherwell went about their business as usual in a style they're now renowned for.

And young full-back Paul Quinn came within inches of breaking the deadlock in 11 minutes.

He was brilliantly teed up by Clarkson in the box but his low shot fizzed just past with keeper Chris Smith beaten.

Ross McCormack was next to test the Scotland Under-21 stopper after a comedy of errors at the back. But Smith recovered well to smother the striker's rasping 18-yard drive.

Well were dominating and went ahead on the half-hour.

Clarkson played Phil O'Donnell down the left and his cross was lashed home at the near post by Porter.

But just when it looked as though silky Well were cruising the Paisley men found an equaliser in first-half injury time.

Alex Burke's corner was headed back into the danger zone by Billy Mehmet and Kean nodded home from close range.

It was a brilliantly worked goal by Buddies but Motherwell's Achilles heel - defending set-pieces - was exposed again.

The home side continued to enjoy most of the possession in the second period without carving Gus MacPherson's team open.

Clarkson's drilled shot from the edge of the box forced Smith into an excellent one-handed save but Quinn could not convert the rebound.

Then the striker's looping header looked destined to nestle in the rigging before Smith denied him with another outstanding stop.

St Mirren threatened to steal a goal on the counter-attack, with Mehmet's header saved by Graeme Smith from a terrific David Van Zanten cross in 83 minutes.

And the big attacker thought he had grabbed a win when he volleyed Marc Corcoran's centre but watched in agony as it cannoned off the underside of the bar.

REF WATCH

MIKE McCURRY used all his experience to keep control of a fiercely fought contest and tried to let the play flow whenever he could. His policy made for an entertaining game for the 5123 fans at Fir Park and there could be no complaints with the four bookings he dished out either.

An impressive performance. Rating: 8/10.

MATCH STATS

SHOTS ON 4

SHOTS OFF 8

OFFSIDE 2

FOULS 12

CORNERS 8

BOOKINGS 2

SHOTS ON 3

SHOTS OFF 3

OFFSIDE 2

FOULS 14

CORNERS 8

BOOKINGS 2