Motherwell 2-1 St Mirren

Sep 28 2008 Euan Mclean Reports

BRUISED Bob Malcolm scored the winner with his crown jewels to send Fir Park nuts and set Motherwell up for their UEFA Cup crunch against Nancy. The Well star could hardly celebrate after bundling home the 62nd-minute winner but it was a sacrifice worth making as his vital strike ended a miserable run of four straight defeats.

But Malcolm was not the only one in claret and amber to show bravery as Mark McGhee hailed his side for battling back from Billy Mehmet's first-half opener to clinch the pre-Europe confidence boost they needed.

The Well boss said: "Bob said he got two touches on it that's all I'm saying. "It was a three-quarters performance in the first half and at half-time, given the previous results, there was a question mark hanging over my team.

"But to a man they got much better. Sometimes these things can be good for you. We're not completely happy with the performance but this result sets us up nicely for Thursday."

While McGhee was delighted with this vital win, St Mirren left Fir Park empty handed and rightly aggrieved at the 70thminute dismissal of full-back Franco Miranda for supposedly elbowing John Sutton.

It was a harsh decision that killed any chance of the Buddies getting back into a game they had dominated in an impressive first half that saw them forge ahead on the half hour.

Steven Robb surged down the left flank and cut the ball inside to Mehmet who faked a quick shot to earn him the space he needed beyond Mark Reynolds to pull a lovely finish across the sprawling Graeme Smith.

A great finish by the striker who copped a booking five minutes later for a reckless lunge on Steven Hammell.

Well were unlucky not to equalise when Malcolm smashed a free-kick off the bar - his second connection with the woodwork in as many games - but their fortunes improved three minutes after the break.

Former Buddies striker Sutton was given acres of space by his old team-mates to power home a header from Hammell's tempting corner and his timely boost breathed life in to Well.

Things turned in 60 minutes when the home side were awarded a soft free-kick and John Potter a booking for dissent.

Impressive rookie Jamie Murphy took it and his drive was saved brilliantly by Mark Howard.

That let-off only paved the way for Well's winner as Big Bob - perhaps not so big after this - bundled Hammell's corner over the line before his understandably muted celebration.

Four minutes later Well were denied by the woodwork again as another devilish delivery from Hammell took everyone by surprise and crashed off the bar.

Miranda's controversial 70th-minute dismissal killed the game but ref Steve Conroy still managed to wind up Well by snubbing a strong penalty claim six minutes from time.

Scott Cuthbert looked to be tugging David Clarkson's jersey as they tussled for a loose ball.

But the whistler's snub made no difference as Well held on for the win they desperately needed.

REF WATCH

STEVE CONROY missed a decent penalty claim and overreacted with a straight red card for Miranda. Two big mistakes took the shine off his performance. Rating: 4/1