Watt winner sees Motherwell claim all three points despite valiant Ross County performance
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Motherwell 2 (Slattery, Watt)
Ross County 1 (Charles-Cook)
Ross County once again showed some encouraging play in a losing effort, as Motherwell ran out 2–1 winners at Fir Park.
A slow start put County on the back foot before they would even have realised what had happened, but for an hour that included a goal from Regan Charles-Cook they looked the stronger of the two sides.
However, Tony Watt proved the difference maker as he popped up with a winner in the 80th minute to send County back up north empty-handed.
The Staggies made one change to the 11 that drew 2–2 with Hearts last week as Keith Watson coming into the side in place of Ben Paton, while Graham Alexander also tweaked his selection with Ricki Lamie coming into the team to replace Bevis Mugabe.
It was the hosts who got off to a perfect start though, taking the lead in just the second minute of the match.
Motherwell had gone forward, but the ball was allowed to run loose just outside County's penalty area where Callum Slattery took control – promptly picking out the top corner.
For a while it looked like that may be the start of a long afternoon for Malky Mackay's men, with Tony Watt and Kevin Van Veen proving troublesome to keep tabs on.
Around the half-hour mark though, it turned into the Blair Spittal show at Fir Park.
He had multiple sights of goal, and was frustrated by Liam Kelly at every turn.
First he took a free kick short, playing a one-two to change the angle and move closer to goal before the Steelmen's stopper made the save, before he was again called into action when Spittal sweetly struck a volley towards him from an extremely tight angle.
It was the same story again and Spittal also blazed over from the left side of the box, but it was his teammate on the other flank who eventually got County back on level terms.
Charles-Cook had regularly been swapping flanks with County's number seven, and on one such occasion he was allowed the space to run forward on the left wing.
He checked back on his right foot, and looked to pick out a dark blue shirt in the middle – only for his cross to evade everyone and sneak its way in at the back post.
Charles-Cook would pick up a booking just before the interval though, and perhaps that played a role in Mackay's decision to replace him with Joe Hungbo at half time.
The second half began in much the same way the first did – with Motherwell on the front foot.
Watt came close to putting them back in front too with a header that hit the crossbar, possibly thanks to the faintest of touches by Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
It did not take as long for the tide to turn this time though, and County responded in kind on the hour mark with Hungbo the man to go inches away from scoring after being played in by Ross Callachan.
Hungbo was once again at the centre of the action a minute or two later when he appealed for a penalty, which was not given. The ball was not cleared, though, and White and Spittal will each feel as though they should have scored in the ensuing goal-mouth scramble, only to see the referee give a Motherwell free kick.
The on-loan Watford man then charged down the right after some good work from Harry Clarke, but he overhit his cross and eventually it came to Jack Burroughs who shot straight at Kelly.
It certainly felt like one-way traffic with 20 minutes left to play, and White had a good chance to score with a header after a wonderful cross from Jack Baldwin, only to miss the target.
Soon after, though, the game drastically opened up as both sides went in search of a winner, and it was Motherwell who took the advantage.
Ricki Lamie played a diagonal ball through to Watt, who was on the shoulder of the last defender and was able to take the ball down into space before firing past Maynard-Brewer to restore the home side's lead.
Motherwell made a defensive substitution to try and see out the victory, making it difficult for the Staggies to respond quickly, and so they were able to see out the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time without any real scare.
Motherwell: Kelly, O'Donnell, Lamie, Woolery (Roberts 63), O'Hara, Van Veen (Carroll 81), Ojala, Slattery, McGInley, Grimshaw (Donnelly 63), Watt.
Subs not used: Fox, Maguire, Amaluzor, Crawford.
Ross County: Maynard-Brewer, Baldwin, H. Paton (Robertson 80), Spittal, Callachan, Watson (Clarke 51), Iacovitti, Charles-Cook (Hungbo 46), Burroughs, Tillson, White.
Subs not used: Laidlaw, Cancola, Samuel, B. Paton.
Referee: Craig Napier.
Attendance: 4477
Yellow card: Motherwell – Alexander (28), Slattery (62), Watt (90); Ross County – Paton (37), Charles-Cook (41), Watson (47), Callachan (90).
