16th August 2019 Motherwell v Hearts 1-2
I don't think that after last Saturday I would have gone to this game if I had not bought my ticket before the Ross County. One good thing, however, is that Motherwell class concessions as over 60 so I only had to pay £10 for the ticket. I thought about taking the train through but if the game had gone to extra time there were only two trains for Edinburgh after the game ended and both meant travelling to Glasgow Central and then walking to Queen Street for a train back to Edinburgh. Talking the second train would mean arriving back in Edinburgh at 1.00am. I noticed on Facebook that Murrayfield Sports Bar were running a bus to the game for £12 return. As the bar is only three bus-stops away from home I booked a seat to travel. I arrived at the bar at 17.30 for a 18.00 departure and after a couple of alcohol-free beers boarded the bus at 18.00. After stopping in Livingston to pick up a couple of people we arrived in Motherwell at around 19.00. Instead of parking where the coaches usually parked the driver parked outside a Peter Vardy car showroom which was a few minutes walk from the ground although the away end was further away as I had to walk round two sides off the ground to reach the turnstiles. After chatting to David, another ex-work colleague, I entered the ground and took my seat in the lower tier of the south sand at around 19.25.
Hearts had been active in the transfer market in the last week signing goalkeeper Joel Pereira, on a season long loan from Manchester United and midfielder Glen Whelan who was out of contract. Whelan is a very experienced player having played for Aston Villa and Stoke, among other sides, and is also a regular in the Republic of Ireland international squad. Hearts made four changes from Saturdays side. In came Pereira for Bobby Zlamal, Aaron Hickey for Aidy White, Jake Mulraney for Uche Ikpeazu and Andy Irving for the injured Steven Naismith. Motherwell had a strong side out and featured two sons of famous fathers, Sherwin Seedorf, son of former Dutch international Clarence and Devante Cole, son of former Manchester United and Newcastle striker Andy.
Hearts started well and had a chance to go ahead in eight minutes. Conor Washington flicked a ball on and it struck Motherwells centre-half Charles Dunne on the arm. Last season it would have probably been a case of ball played man but with the changes in the rules referee Bobby Madden awarded Hearts a penalty. Sean Clare stepped up to take the kick but crashed his shot of keeper Mark Gillespies left-hand post. Clare compounded his error but rushing to get the rebound forcing the referee to award Motherwell a free-kick when he played the ball again before any other player touched it. I immediately thought of when I refereed a school game and disallowed a goal for the same reason when a player shot home a rebound from his penalty off the bar before any-one else played the ball. Just after the half hour mark the rain started pouring down in torrents and flashes of lightening lit up the night sky. Hearts suffered a blow after thirty-eight minutes when Jamie Walker was forced to leave the field after an ankle knock. He had been playing way both wide on the right and through the middle but injured his ankle blocking a shot from Motherwell's Liam Donnelly just inside the Hearts penalty box. Walker was replaced by Steven MacLean who played in Walkers wide right role rather than his own normal strikers position. Pereira fumbled his first save from a shot by Jermaine Hylton and was thankful that Hickey was behind him to clear Seedorf shot off the line following goalmouth melee. Following that scare I thought Pereira played well particularly with his handling of cross-balls although he does need to work on his kicking as I thought he was taking too long to clear the ball as forwards rushed towards him. Hearts took the lead after thirty-eight minutes when Conor Washington won the ball in midfield on the left hand side. I was told that television gave an impression of handball by Washington but it looked fair from where I was sitting. He then passed to Michael Smith wide on the right. Smith cut inside and from the edge of the penalty area sent a low shot across Gillespie and into the far corner of the net. Hearts went further ahead two minutes into injury time when a through ball from Clare found Mulraney running into the box. Gillespie rushed from his goal and took Mulraney down in a sliding challenge about fifteen yards out. Referee Madden again award a penalty and this time Washington fired the ball high past Gillespie to give Hearts a 2-0 lead at the break.
During the break the rain continued to pour down with the lightening flashes adding to the floodlights in the gathering darkness. As the half started I was worried that the referee might consider abandoning the game given that the right hand side of the field from where I was sitting appeared to be waterlogged in the Hearts half with the ball sticking on occasions and spray rising as the ball landed on the turf or tackles went in. Thankfully the match continued and Hearts continued to pass the ball around well with both Clare and Mulraney sending long range efforts past the post. I think the absence of Uche Ikpeazu forced the Hearts players to find a man with a pass rather than 'hoof' the ball up field hoping for Ikpeazu to win the ball with his strength and power. Things changed in the sixtieth minute when Loic Damour lost the ball in midfield following a challenge by Liam Polworth. The Motherwell midfielder cut inside and ran towards the Hearts goal. he played a one-two with substitute Curtis Long and continued his run towards the Hearts penalty area. Long matched Polworths run and ran on into the box where Polworth found him with a clever pass. The forward took a shot and shot across Pereira into the net to give Motherwell some hope. I felt that this might signal a spell of concentrated Motherwell pressure but the Hearts defence coped we'll with Christophe Berra looking back to his best in to winning challenges to clear high balls. The best chance in the remainder of the match fell to Hearts substitute, on for Mulraney, Aidy White. He won the ball in midfield and set of on a run into the box. White seemed to stumble his way past a couple of challenges and was only able to stab the ball towards keeper Gillespie when a controlled shot would have brought a goal. The final whistle singled delirium amongst the Hearts fans as the team moved into the Betfred Cup quarter-finals.
Once the clamour in the stands died down I left the ground and headed back to the bus, through the departing Motherwell fans. I got on the bus in around ten minutes and the bus was soon filling up. However four young lads, who appeared to be members of the Hearts Young Team, did not appear. Some-one said that he thought they had been stopped by the police. The bus convenor did not want to leave four fourteen/fifteen year-olds stranded in Motherwell and asked the driver to head towards to coach park to see if they were there. On the way they were spotted at a bus-stop and boarded the coach. The driver then took a strange route out of Motherwell and we did not join the motorway until Harthill. After stopping in Livingston and Sighthill the bus arrived back at the bar around 23.30. I crossed Stevenson Drive and caught a 22 bus after a short wait. Despite the time two 22s arrived at the stop together. I was home in another five minutes and surprisingly did not have to take Rufus for his last walk of the day as Natalie had already done it.
Teams
Hearts started well and had a chance to go ahead in eight minutes. Conor Washington flicked a ball on and it struck Motherwells centre-half Charles Dunne on the arm. Last season it would have probably been a case of ball played man but with the changes in the rules referee Bobby Madden awarded Hearts a penalty. Sean Clare stepped up to take the kick but crashed his shot of keeper Mark Gillespies left-hand post. Clare compounded his error but rushing to get the rebound forcing the referee to award Motherwell a free-kick when he played the ball again before any other player touched it. I immediately thought of when I refereed a school game and disallowed a goal for the same reason when a player shot home a rebound from his penalty off the bar before any-one else played the ball. Just after the half hour mark the rain started pouring down in torrents and flashes of lightening lit up the night sky. Hearts suffered a blow after thirty-eight minutes when Jamie Walker was forced to leave the field after an ankle knock. He had been playing way both wide on the right and through the middle but injured his ankle blocking a shot from Motherwell's Liam Donnelly just inside the Hearts penalty box. Walker was replaced by Steven MacLean who played in Walkers wide right role rather than his own normal strikers position. Pereira fumbled his first save from a shot by Jermaine Hylton and was thankful that Hickey was behind him to clear Seedorf shot off the line following goalmouth melee. Following that scare I thought Pereira played well particularly with his handling of cross-balls although he does need to work on his kicking as I thought he was taking too long to clear the ball as forwards rushed towards him. Hearts took the lead after thirty-eight minutes when Conor Washington won the ball in midfield on the left hand side. I was told that television gave an impression of handball by Washington but it looked fair from where I was sitting. He then passed to Michael Smith wide on the right. Smith cut inside and from the edge of the penalty area sent a low shot across Gillespie and into the far corner of the net. Hearts went further ahead two minutes into injury time when a through ball from Clare found Mulraney running into the box. Gillespie rushed from his goal and took Mulraney down in a sliding challenge about fifteen yards out. Referee Madden again award a penalty and this time Washington fired the ball high past Gillespie to give Hearts a 2-0 lead at the break.
During the break the rain continued to pour down with the lightening flashes adding to the floodlights in the gathering darkness. As the half started I was worried that the referee might consider abandoning the game given that the right hand side of the field from where I was sitting appeared to be waterlogged in the Hearts half with the ball sticking on occasions and spray rising as the ball landed on the turf or tackles went in. Thankfully the match continued and Hearts continued to pass the ball around well with both Clare and Mulraney sending long range efforts past the post. I think the absence of Uche Ikpeazu forced the Hearts players to find a man with a pass rather than 'hoof' the ball up field hoping for Ikpeazu to win the ball with his strength and power. Things changed in the sixtieth minute when Loic Damour lost the ball in midfield following a challenge by Liam Polworth. The Motherwell midfielder cut inside and ran towards the Hearts goal. he played a one-two with substitute Curtis Long and continued his run towards the Hearts penalty area. Long matched Polworths run and ran on into the box where Polworth found him with a clever pass. The forward took a shot and shot across Pereira into the net to give Motherwell some hope. I felt that this might signal a spell of concentrated Motherwell pressure but the Hearts defence coped we'll with Christophe Berra looking back to his best in to winning challenges to clear high balls. The best chance in the remainder of the match fell to Hearts substitute, on for Mulraney, Aidy White. He won the ball in midfield and set of on a run into the box. White seemed to stumble his way past a couple of challenges and was only able to stab the ball towards keeper Gillespie when a controlled shot would have brought a goal. The final whistle singled delirium amongst the Hearts fans as the team moved into the Betfred Cup quarter-finals.
Once the clamour in the stands died down I left the ground and headed back to the bus, through the departing Motherwell fans. I got on the bus in around ten minutes and the bus was soon filling up. However four young lads, who appeared to be members of the Hearts Young Team, did not appear. Some-one said that he thought they had been stopped by the police. The bus convenor did not want to leave four fourteen/fifteen year-olds stranded in Motherwell and asked the driver to head towards to coach park to see if they were there. On the way they were spotted at a bus-stop and boarded the coach. The driver then took a strange route out of Motherwell and we did not join the motorway until Harthill. After stopping in Livingston and Sighthill the bus arrived back at the bar around 23.30. I crossed Stevenson Drive and caught a 22 bus after a short wait. Despite the time two 22s arrived at the stop together. I was home in another five minutes and surprisingly did not have to take Rufus for his last walk of the day as Natalie had already done it.
Teams
Motherwell: Gillespie, Tait, Grimshaw, Campbell, Seedrof, Hylton, Scott, Dunne, Polworth, Donnelly, Gallagher.
Subs: Cole, Long, Ilic
Hearts: Pereira, M. Smith, Berra, Clare, Washingston, Walker, Mulraney, Damour, Halkett, Irving, Hickey.
Subs: MacLean, White
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