Saints make ’Well suffer

Feb 25 2009 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

MOTHERWELL were looking to set up a date with Sunday’s league opponents Celtic in the last eight of the Homecoming Scottish Cup in the hope of landing a cash windfall that would assist their efforts at sorting out the embarrassing state of the Fir Park turf.

Instead they will have to look to alternative revenue streams after producing a performance in the replay with St Mirren labelled ‘embarrassing’ by manager Mark McGhee.

Beforehand his players had admitted to relishing the prospect of playing on the bowling green-like surface at the new St Mirren Park.

You would never have thought it, however, as they huffed and puffed through 90 minutes of football that was sore on the eyes as both teams struggled to string more than three passes together.

In the end, Saints’ Billy Mehmet put the neutrals watching live on Sky Sports out of their misery six minutes from time. Substitute Craig Dargo cut in from the right and played a neat ball through to the striker, who then drilled a low shot past Graeme Smith and into the net.

Saints had looked the more dangerous throughout this replay and thoroughly deserve their crack at Celtic in the quarter-finals.

For Motherwell it was a real sickener and they were well below par on the night.

“I hope our players are gutted because I’m as disappointed after this game as I have been in any game since I’ve been a manager,” a deflated McGhee claimed afterwards.

“I had high hopes given the form we had been in but I feel embarrassed because we let ourselves down badly. We were poor.”

The cup disappointment spoiled what had been an otherwise fruitful week for the Steelmen, having beaten Hamilton last Saturday and taken a point off champions Celtic on Sunday.

McGhee’s side are now unbeaten in eight SPL games – a run that stretches back to December 20 when his side lost to Hamilton.

But as McGhee said after the useful point against Celtic on Sunday: “I said to Gordon (Strachan) before the game, ‘even if we win 10-0 it won’t make up for Thursday’.

“That will take a long time to get out of the system.”