Motherwell hold Celtic to draw

Oct 21 2009 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

Motherwell 0 Celtic 0

IT’S difficult to quantify the level of achievement attained by this young and raw Motherwell side so far this season.

One thing is for sure - they have come an awful long way since their performance against Llanelli.

And they have made a mockery of those who predicted the club would struggle at the wrong end of the table after losing the spine of their side in the summer.

Two goalless draws against both sides of the Old Firm cannot be dismissed but given the falling standards of both Rangers and Celtic over the past couple of years it has now come to the point where such results are not met with gleeful celebration.

The Motherwell players were hugging each other at the end of what was a rather dull encounter at Parkhead on Saturday and the Motherwell fans were singing, ‘there’s only one Jim Gannon’ at the full-time whistle.

But Mark Reynolds put the result in some context after the match.

In years gone by, a Motherwell player would have been rejoicing at such a result but not this season.

“This is maybe a chance gone to have taken all three points here,” skipper Reynolds said.

“We don’t fear the Old Firm anymore. I think the gap between Rangers and Celtic and the rest of the SPL is getting smaller You can see that by results in the last few years.”

Despite the gap being bridged, the Old Firm will still finish first and second and Motherwell’s season will not be shaped by admirable draws against Scotland’s big two but by how they perform against the rest.

In the space of seven days we should have a better indication as to how far Motherwell have come and how far they can go. The Steelmen take on St Mirren twice in the space of four days on league and cup duty, beginning this Saturday, before they entertain last season’s third-best SPL side Hearts at Fir Park.

If results go their way, the Steelmen could be looking forward to a cup semi-final and may have cemented their claims to be genuine contenders to finish third in the league - or they could be out of the Co-operative Insurance Cup and languishing in mid-table.

At the moment, we can only judge them on the here and now and, whilst offering little in the final third on Saturday, Motherwell tactically outmanoeuvred Celtic.

Hoops boss Tony Mowbray got so desperate that his side finished the match with four wingers on the park. They lacked ideas almost from the off and Jim Gannon’s plan to deny Celtic a high percentage of possession worked well.

Motherwell rattled and frustrated Celtic for 90 minutes.

Scott Brown and Gary Caldwell exchanged verbals in the second half and Brown himself then seemed to lose complete focus once Giles Coke crashed into him in the centre of midfield.

The home fans began to get frustrated as early as the 20th minute and there were jeers at half-time and full-time.

For the first time since taking charge, Mowbray also seemed irked by the line of questioning from some journalists after the match.

Motherwell’s brave yet carefully crafted display was best summed up by the performance of Tom Hateley.

The 20-year-old anchored the midfield superbly and has been Gannon’s most astute signing to date – and there have been a few.

Winger Chris Humphrey ran himself to a standstill, making sure Celtic at least had to be mindful of the visitors as an attacking unit, while on-loan striker Lucas Jutkiewicz was excellent, carving out three opportunities that, with a slice of luck, could have found the net.

Giles Coke did not look fazed in his midfield role and again John Ruddy looked assured between the sticks.

Credit must also be given to Reynolds and Saunders at the heart of Motherwell’s defence.

The official line may be that substitute Stephen Craigan was being rested but it does appear that the club captain and Northern Ireland internationalist is now down the pecking order.

Yes, Celtic were guilty of passing up a number of gilt-edged chances, especially near the end when both Aidan McGeady and Scott McDonald missed headers from six yards out.

But Motherwell were deserving of a point and can look forward to the next three games with great optimism.

Their fans will have rightly dined out on their performances against Rangers and Celtic but they know the litmus test is yet to come.

Celtic: Boruc, Naylor, Caldwell, McManus, McDonald, Brown, Samaras (Maloney 58), Wilson (McCourt 76), McGinn, Robson (Zhi 68), McGeady. Subs not used: Zaluska, Thomson, Crosas, Caddis.

Motherwell: Ruddy, Moutaouakil, Hammell, Reynolds, Coke, Humphrey (Halsman 73), Jutkiewicz (Sutton 82), Murphy (Jennings 87), Hateley, Forbes, Saunders. Subs not used: Kosiorowski, Craigan, Lasley, McHugh.