Motherwell made a winning start to their Premier Sports Cup campaign on Saturday afternoon at Fir Park, beating Edinburgh City 3-0.
A first-half header from Kofi Balmer seen Motherwell with a narrow advantage at the halfway stage, but goals from Dan Casey and Stephen O’Donnell in the second-half seen the points stay in North Lanarkshire.
Stuart Kettlewell handed debuts to Balmer and Krisztian Hegyi, with academy graduate Dylan Wells also handed his first start.
With 4000 home fans in the stands for the first competitive game of the season, Motherwell controlled much of the possession in the early exchanges.
Moses Ebiye’s tame header on target was the only real save City keeper Mark Weir had to make in the first ten minutes.
Centre-back Balmer drove into the space in front of him and had a go from 25-yards out but his driven strike was just wide of the post.
Five minutes later, it was Balmer involved again. An inch perfect delivery from corner taker Andy Halliday found Balmer in the box, the Northern Irishman connected perfectly with the ball but he couldn’t beat the post.
It was on 43 minutes that the Steelmen did eventually break Edinburgh City down. A small case of Deja Vu, Halliday delivered and once again found Balmer who this time made no mistake and got the opener. 1-0.
The second-half started in similar fashion with Motherwell controlling the play. Harry Paton had a sighter from outside the area but his effort was well over the bar.
On 50 minutes, good work from Wells won the ‘Well a corner that created yet another opportunity. Halliday found Balmer, who headed back across goal and Casey’s subsequent header rattled off the crossbar.
Just four minutes later however, Casey would find the back of the net. Another corner caused all sorts of problems for the visitors, the Irish defender jumped highest at the back post and headed down into the bottom corner. 2-0 and it looked like the points would be safe.
On 61 minutes, the win was confirmed. Good work from Ewan Wilson up the left hand side got his team from the halfway line to the edge of the box, the young full-back played it across to Stephen O’Donnell whose drilled effort couldn’t be kept out by Weir and it was 3-0. A collectors item for the Scottish internationalist.
Further chances would be created for Motherwell. Substitute and debutant Zach Robinson looked bright. He set up Ebiye with a threaded through ball but the Nigerian’s effort was saved.
Robinson created an opportunity for himself also, holding off Edin Lynch before shooting over the bar.
Another opportunity was created from a corner, with Casey denied his second of the afternoon by the post.
With Partick Thistle beating Montrose 3-2 in the other match in Group G, Motherwell go top in the early stages of this years Premier Sports Cup.
