Motherwell emerged from an action-packed game with a narrow 2-1 win over St Mirren and extended their excellent home form and made it four consecutive home wins.
And although Lennon Miller earned the man of the match award for his all-round display and his two goals, Aston Oxborough had an outstanding 90 minutes. The ‘Well keeper capped his performance with a wonderful penalty save to deny Mark O’Hara and Saints a share of the points.
Add in two sending offs, Dan Casey for the home side and Scott Tanser for the visitors, which reduced the team to 10v10 for the last half hour, and this game had just about everything in terms of entertainment.
Stuart Kettlewell made one significant change, with Moses Ebiye being rewarded for his impact off the bench to earn a starting spot alongside Zach Robinson.
Former ‘Well boss Stephen Robinson returned to Fir Park with a handful of ex-Steelmen in his squad. The starting eleven included Mark O’Hara and Mikael Mandron, while James Scott and Charles Dunne joined Kevin van Veen on the bench.
With both teams making a positive start, it was an incident-packed opening spell to what was a great game.
In the eigth minute, Oxborough raced from his goal to brilliantly spread himself and divert Toyosi Olusanya’s low finish before the Saints’ striker was then flagged offside.
A minute later, the ‘Well’keeper was beaten as the visitors opened the scoring. Elvis Bwomono’s low ball across the box found Phillips, who, with a smart turn, fired the ball low inside the left-hand post.
The Fir Park men might have equalised six minutes later. O’Hara’s slack pass was intercepted by Ebiye, but after working his way into the box and from a tight angle, he lashed the ball into the side net when he should have at least tested the ‘keeper.
Three minutes after that, though, ‘Well did find the back of the net.
Halliday’s deep corner was intended for Casey at the back of the six-yard box. But when the central defender was bundled to the ground by Marcus Fraser, referee Lloyd Wilson had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot.
And for the second consecutive game, Miller looked confident and composed as he slotted the ball high into the ‘keeper’s left-hand corner to level the scores.
The visitor’s response was a hook shot from Olusanya, which flew narrowly past the post as play continued to race from end to end.
‘Well’s set pieces posed a threat on the Buddies goal, and Miller’s wicked inswinging corner forced Ellery Balcombe to palm the ball over his bar under pressure from Ebiye.
On the half hour mark, the Saints’ ‘keeper was busy again. This time Halliday’s corner did find Casey, and his downward header was palmed around his right-hand post by Balcombe.
A minute from halftime, Fir Park grabbed the lead. Stephen O’Donnell’s burst into the box was blocked, but when the ball rolled out to Halliday on the right, he pulled it back to Miller. Despite being surrounded by Saints players, the teenager found enough space to stab the ball beyond the diving Balcombe and inside his post.
The eight minutes of additional time before the interval was the signal for the Paisley side to lay siege on the ‘Well goal in search of an equaliser before halftime.
And it looked certain to arrive when Killian Phillips, four yards from goal, glanced his header down and set to bounce over the line until Oxborough produced a stunning save, diving low to his right to claw the ball away from his goal.
A couple of minutes into the second half, the ‘Well keeper equalled that with another stunning stop to preserve his side’s lead.
Oxborough did well to push the ball across his line and then watch Casey sliding towards the post and block Phillips thumping effort. And although the ‘Well defender was adamant that he blocked the shot with his chest, the referee’s decision to award a penalty for handball was backed up by VAR.
That also earned Casey a red card, but as ‘Well faced the challenge of being reduced to 10 men, Oxborough gave the team and fans a boost, diving far to his right to get both hands on O’Hara’s spot kick and push the ball to safety.
Kettlewell immediately sent on Kofi Balmer to fill the gap at the back, with Ebiye being sacrificed.
However, numerical parity was restored on the hour mark when Scott Tanser picked up his second yellow after a needless challenge on O’Donnell.
Stephen Robinson then decided to ring the changes, bringing on Kevin van Veen in the hope of finding an equaliser.
However, it was Miller who had the chance to net his hat-trick when, under pressure from Gogic, he side-footed Wilson’s tempting cross over the ‘keeper from 10 yards.
With 20 minutes remaining of an absorbing game, Kettlewell made a triple substitution, bringing on Marvin Kaleta, Tony Watt, and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos.
The final change for the Steelmen arrived when Tom Sparrow joined the action for the final seven minutes or so and the sub contributed to what would have been a decisive third goal.
Two minutes from the end of the regulation 90, Sparrow won the ball at the edge of the box before feeding Paul McGinn wide on the right. His cross towards the six-yard area was met by the diving frame of Stamatelopoulos, who was denied his first goal for the club as his header produced another superb save as this time Balcombe dived across his goal to beat the ball away.
That left Saints eight additional minutes to find an equaliser, but the Fir Park men controlled the game until the end to deservedly earn another three points.
