ROSS TIERNEY struck deep into injury time to ensure Motherwell grabbed a deserved point in Paisley after St Mirren appeared to have nicked a crucial Premiership victory.
Cypriot midfielder Alex Gogic clambered off the bench in the first half and looked to have sealed a win for the hosts after steering home a corner towards the end of the game before Tierney’s last-gasp intervention restored parity.
Neither side could be said to have been at their best in what was a scrappy and dull contest and Saints manager Jim Goodwin admitted the draw was a fair result, even if it was a painful one for him.
“It is a real bitter blow to lose that goal in the manner that we did,” he said. “But I think it would have been daylight robbery if we had took all three points tonight.
“I thought both teams were pretty poor offensively. Both defensive units defended their boxes very, very well but in terms of the overall spectacle of the game, there was no free-flowing football throughout the 90 minutes.”
The home side no longer had the creative prowess of Jamie McGrath to fall back on after the playmaker sealed a deadline-day move to Wigan Athletic and it showed during an uninspiring first half. St Mirren were determined to shift the ball to their full-backs to shell ponderous balls in behind the Motherwell defence, no matter how many times the ploy failed.
Brophy was left clutching the short straw as he went haring after them until the striker’s evening was cut short after sustaining a head knock. Gogic was brought on for his debut as Goodwin was forced into the change. Not long after, a blow to the head of Motherwell’s Liam Shaw forced the Celtic loanee off as he was replaced by Ross Tierney.
The visitors didn’t bring their A-game either. Jak Alnwick had to be alert as Sean Goss stung the palms of the St Mirren goalie with two powerful shots in quick succession as Graham Alexander’s men at least worked the keeper, even if neither attempt really looked like breaking the deadlock.
The match continued in much the same fashion after the break, although it started to loosen up a bit as the occasional opportunity was created.
A wonderful stop from Liam Kelly kept the game level after Richard Tait ghosted in at the back post to steer the ball goalwards from a few yards out from Jones’ free-kick, only for the Motherwell keeper to claw it away at the last moment.
A Ryan Flynn shot from distance was tipped behind by Kelly for a corner and from the resulting set-piece, Gogic leapt highest to nod the ball home to hand St Mirren an unlikely lead.
It was kitchen sink time for Motherwell now and it paid off in the 92nd minute. Tait dallied on the ball to the left of his own box, was promptly dispossessed by Kaiyne Woolery and the winger drilled a low ball into the area for Tierney to tuck home with aplomb.
“It would have been a travesty not to take something from the game,” said Motherwell manager Alexander. “We’re frustrated only to take one point out of that game because we dominated St Mirren. We had double the number of attempts on goal they had, we were the better team and to find ourselves a goal down with ten minutes to go was a painful one.
“But the players showed commitment and courage and got the point, which was the least they deserved.”
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