Motherwell U19s signed off the season with a crushing 6-1 defeat at the hands of Rangers at Murray Park this afternoon.
Before kick-off, Young’s men sat three points ahead of the light blues in fourth place but the difficult task was made almost impossible when Adam Asghar was sent off after just eleven minutes and Rangers were wrongly awarded a penalty.
The midfielder was correctly ordered off by referee Craig Napier as he denied Tom Skogsrud a goal-scoring opportunity but Gordon Young can feel doubly aggrieved at the call. Not only did the offence take place outside the box but Rangers had earlier escaped an almost identical situation when Keiran McGachie was bundled to the ground by Adel Gaifiti, who would later score, whilst racing through on goal.
After what seemed like an age, Josh Robinson stepped up and buried the opener low into the bottom left hand corner despite Ross Stewart going the right way.
Despite going down to ten, Motherwell played some neat stuff and were probably the better team for the majority of the first half. Josh Watt had a half chance on the half hour but he could only hit the side netting from an acute angle.
Indeed, it was against the run of play when Rangers added their second, and arguably most decisive, goal of the afternoon; it was a hammer blow for ‘Well just before the interval.
Matty Clarke dinked a ball towards the edge of the area that was flicked on by Robbie Crawford. It fell invitingly for Robinson who looped a clever effort over the outstretched Stewart and into the net.
The message from Gordon Young at half-time would surely have been to keep it tight for the opening exchanges but it didn’t work out like that as Rangers, and Robinson, added a third seconds after the restart although they wouldn’t have to work had for it.
It was a terrible goal for the Steelmen to lose. A long, hopeful ball over the top didn’t look to be presenting any trouble whatsoever. Stewart raced from his goal, only to completely miss his kick, allowing Robinson to complete his hat-trick with probably one of the simplest goals he will ever score.
Rangers made it four just before the hour mark. A free-kick from the right was whipped in at pace towards the front post. Stewart did superbly well to turn away a point blank header from Skogsrud only for it to fall invitingly for Gaifiti who slid the ball home at the back post.
Four minutes later Rangers made it five as the match threatened to turn embarrassing for the young Steelmen. The goal epitomised the sort of day it was for Motherwell; Robbie Crawford took a magnificent touch on the edge of the area, controlling a long ball out the air, before curling effort off the crossbar. However, in a stroke of terrible fortune, it hit the back of young Stewart on the rebound and somehow crept over the line.
The score remained that way until the 85th minute when Rangers made it six through Jamie Burrows. A free-kick towards the back post looked comfortable for Stewart but he let it slip and it fell perfectly for the young substitute who slotted it home despite the best efforts of Nicky Devlin on the line.
The only bright spark in an otherwise black afternoon for the ‘Well was a late consolation through Lee Erwin who netted from the penalty spot. Euan Murray was adjudged to have been fouled inside the area allowing Motherwell’s top marksman for the season the opportunity to get his name amongst the scorers. He duly did, slotting home into the bottom right corner, the last action of the match.
Motherwell: Stewart, Devlin, E.Murray, Cummins, Francis-Angol, Watt (Brownlie), Hetherington, Asghar, Mboa Mekongo (MacDonald), McGachie (Moore), Erwin
Subs: R. Murray, Thomas, Leitch, MacDonald
.TV – Match Highlights
