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Pictures from the 3-0 win over Hearts in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at Fir Park.

These action shots and more are available to buy online at motherwellPICS.

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[tab:Match report]

Andy Ross at Fir Park

Motherwell hammered Hearts 3-0 to move nine points clear in third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
 
Keith Lasley’s powerful strike was turned into his own net by Andy Webster before Jamie Murphy doubled ‘Well’s advantage four minutes before half time.
 
Lasley was dismissed for a second booking five minutes into the second half but the Steelmen continued to dominate proceedings and Nicky Law capped an excellent performance by adding the third goal.
 
Motherwell created the first clear-cut chance of the match after four minutes.
 
Henrik Ojamaa forced Jamie MacDonald into a smart stop after latching on to Tom Hateley’s cross and the Hearts keeper then produced a point-black save to deny Nicky Law.
 
The visitors managed their first attempt on goal after 10 minutes when Darren Randolph comfortably gathered David Obua’s long-range shot.
 
Keith Lasley received the first booking of the match when he clumsily hacked down Ian Black.
 
David Templeton shot high and wide just after the half-hour mark, before Motherwell came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock.
 
Jamie Murphy combined with Ojamaa and the Estonian’s fizzing cross evaded all inside the area with the goal gaping.
 
Ryan McGowan passed up a good opportunity when he dragged his shot wide after out-pacing Steven Hammell and ‘Well responded as Lasley’s shot was deflected wide by Andy Webster.
 
Webster went from hero to villain as Motherwell grabbed the opening goal from the resulting corner.
 
The Hearts defence failed to deal with Hateley’s dangerous corner and Webster turned Lasley’s powerful drive into his own net.
 
Templeton limped off to be replaced by Rudi Skacel following the ‘Well opener and things went from bad to worse for the visitors within four minutes of the Czech’s introduction.
 
Lasley’s sublime cross was met by Murphy who looped a header over MacDonald and high into the net.
 
After matching Motherwell for the majority of the first half, Hearts appeared to be shell-shocked and but for a brave save at the feet of Ojamaa, they could have found themselves three behind at the break.
 
Ojamaa and then Law both came close after a defensive error from Webster as Motherwell quickly picked up where they left off at the beginning of the second half.
 
They were dealt a blow on 50 minutes, however, as Lasley received a second booking for another lunge on Black.
 
Despite losing their captain, ‘Well continued to boss proceedings and Law chipped inches over the bar after MacDonald had raced from his goal to stop Murphy’s driving run.
 
The former Rotherham midfielder came even closer three minutes later when he rattled the frame of the Hearts goal with an excellent curling effort from the edge of the box.
 
Law wasn’t to be denied his goal though and after 65 minutes he hammered a shot beyond MacDonald after superb work from Ojamaa.
 
Hearts had offered little in the way of attacking threat as Motherwell powered ahead and Skacel’s wild effort was their first effort on Randolph’s goal in the second half.
 
Hateley fired a free-kick over the bar as Motherwell comfortably played out the closing stages of the match.
 
Michael Higdon should have added a fourth but somehow failed to connect with Ojamaa’s cutback.
 
Ojamaa and Hammell were both booked in the closing minutes of the match and Stuart McCall reacted by replacing the outstanding Estonian with Omar Daley.
 
The home side comfortably retained possession during three minutes of added time, ensuring a famous victory was also marked with a clean-sheet.

[tab:As it happened]

Alastair Reilly at Fir Park

FULL TIME: Motherwell 3-0 Hearts. Jubilant scenes amongst the Fir Park faithful.

90mins: 3 minutes added on.

WELL SUB: It’s Omar Daley on for that man Ojamaa.

85mins: Oh…..should have been 4. Higdon only has to tap it in but the ball swerves mysteriously away from his boot.

84mins: And Henrik Ojamaa is named as today’s man of the match. What a shift…again!

83mins: Taouil mazes through the defence but his shot is somewhat laughable and trundles harmlessly past.

78mins: Hateley goes close with a free kick on the edge of the box. Narrowly over the bar.

76mins: ‘Well fans in the East seem aggrieved after an apparent gesture from Zaliukas…..

75mins: 15 minutes left and ‘Well are looking strong despite the man down.

67mins: HEARTS SUB: Black off (to a chorus of boo’s), Taouil on.

65mins: Great great goal. Ojamaa down the left with the tricks, lays in Murphy who then slots in Law who converts from the angle in off the post.

65mins: Na na na na na na na Nicky law, Nicky Law, Nicky Nicky Law!

GOOAAALLLLLLLL. LAW! It’s 3!

63mins: Black finds his way into the ref’s book after an ill-timed lunge on Ojamaa.

61mins: Hammells effort floats harmlessly wide.

61mins: Chance here….free-kick to ‘Well just outside the box.

Terribly unlucky. If that goes in it’s a contender for goal of the season.

55mins: Law smacks a 20 yarder off the junction!

53mins: Great chance to kill the game. MacDonald with a poor clearance straight to Law. His chipped effort towards the open goal flies just over

50mins: RED CARD: Keith lasley sent off for a second bookable offence

46mins: Ball over the top and somehow the ball breaks to Ojamaa. He reacts quickly but his poked effort is aimed straight at MacDonald.

HEARTS SUB: Driver off, Robinson on. Second half just underway.

Well fan Marcus slots home the £100 ball and promptly produces the guns. Hearts fan misses…

Cash converters challenge time. If you’re bored, tweet in your pics of you at the game.

And that half time whistle has now blown. Great stuff so far.

45mins:1 minute added on…as Jamie MacDonald goes down with a headknock.

42mins: 2-0 Lovely stuff from Lasley. His dinked cross is met by Murphy whose looping header goes in off the bar.

GOOOAALLLL: Jamie Murphy!

39mins: HEARTS SUB: Templeton off, Skacel On.

37mins – 1-0! Corner floated in and after a stramash the ball falls to Keith Lasley who smashes it in off a defender.

GOAL! LASLEYYYYYY!

37mins: And up the other end, Lasley see’s his shot deflected over the bar for a corner.

36mins: Chance for Hearts. McGowan out runs Hammell and fortunately his shot powers just wide of the post.

35mins: Boo’s ringing out around the stadium as Ojamaa appeared to have his shirt pulled as he raced clean through. Nothing given!

32mins. Neat play from Murphy who slide in Ojamaa. His cross is blazed across the face of goal but with no takers.

24mins: Lasley booked for a hard challenge on Black. Looked a sore one.

20mins: In my opinion, we’re on top. No clear cut chances quite yet but I can sense a goal coming soon…

19mins: Good exchange of passing involving Law, Ojamaa and Higdon ends with Hateley. His cross is deep is a fraction too deep for Ojamaa.

16mins: Free kick 30 yards out……chipped into box by Hateley but Hutchys boot finds nothing but fresh air.

12mins: Great vocal backing from the ‘Well fans as usual. Warm welcome to the group of Aalesunds fans who have made the trip over.

11mins: Not a lot of noteworthy incidents so far.We’re looking dangerous down the left through Hammell and Law,

2mins: ‘Well go close! Ojamaa’s shot is parried out to Law but the covering hearts players scramble it clear. Encouraging start.

1min: Motherwell kick-off

[tab:Reaction]

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall:

“On Friday we were looking at the two home games against the Edinburgh clubs. Hibs come here fighting for their lives on Wednesday for our game in hand.

“If – and it’s a big if – we can win that, then we will go 12 points clear of Hearts and that will be a huge gap at this stage of the season. So we will concentrate on each game.

“We can’t get carried away because we lost three games on the bounce not so long ago and it looked as if the wheels came off. But the way we have turned the home form around and the goals we are scoring, the confidence we are playing with, we just have to look to each game.

“All a manager can ask is to keep playing like that and if it brings us the points to edge close to Rangers then great.”

Hearts manager Paulo Sergio:

“For the first goal, I was not happy with lack of decision. We had three chances to get the ball out the box but couldn’t do it and that is the easiest thing to do in football.

“For the second goal, Lasley was all alone with the ball with a player three metres from him. It wasn’t a dangerous cross but it was an easy goal for Motherwell. That made it very hard for us.

“We were playing against 10 men for a lot of the second half, but they did their job very well, closing the space, so congratulations to them.”

[tab:Man-of-the-match]

[poll id=”90″]

Motherwell fans are again reminded of the ticking arrangements for the rearranged SPL clash with Hibs on Wednesday 22nd February.

• Season Tickets will enter the ground using Special Voucher H from the back of the book.
• Non Season Ticket holders who were given a Match Abandoned voucher can exchange it for a ticket from the Fir Park Ticket office between now and the match (including at our home matches versus Hearts this Saturday).
• Hibernian fans that already have a Match Abandoned voucher can enter the South Stand with the voucher.
• Fans that don’t have a Season Ticket or a Match Abandoned voucher can still buy a ticket for the match with admission as follows:

*Concessions are listed as Over 60s and a Full Time Students
*Juveniles are listed as Under 16s
*This is an all ticket match – tickets available for purchase from the ticket office.

Estonian Star Henrik Ojamaa has been nominated for the William Hill Player of the Fifth Round and we need your votes to help him win it.

You can now cast your vote for the William Hill Player of the Fifth Round using the poll at the Scottish Cup Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/scottishcup

The nominees are:

• Andrew Considine (Aberdeen)
• Henrik Ojamaa (Motherwell)
• Johnny Russell (Dundee United)
• Gary Mackay-Steven (Dundee United)
• Marius Zaliukas (Heart of Midlothian)

Voting closes on Monday, 20 February 2012 at 5pm and the results of the poll will be announced on the Scottish Cup Facebook page shortly after.

‘Well host Hearts in a crucial Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash this afternoon and if you are coming to the match, don’t forget to pick up a matchday programme.

What’s inside? Well, manager Stuart McCall talks about trying to ignore events elsewhere and concentrating on trying to beat a very good Hearts side.

The highlight though is an exclusive chat with Estonian sharpshooter Henrik Ojamaa. The Clydesdale Bank Young Player of the Month for January chats about his instant impact at Fir Park, making the grade after leaving his native Estonia and keeping his head up during tougher times.

There is a special 10-page section dedicated to our visitors. Not only is there a rundown of the current squad and a review of the season so far, we get the views of Jambo Fraser Arnott, Peter Elder looks back at one of the more memorable matches between the sides and rising star Jason Holt takes part in our Q&A.

And that’s not all. As well as match reports from both the Morton and St Mirren matches, regular features such as On This Day with Graham Barnstaple and Gavin McCafferty in From the Press Box return. Graham also sums up the quite mad week for Scottish Football and Stuart Barbour is featured in our Fanatics series.

Wait, there’s more! We take a look back at 2003/04 in our Golden Years feature and there’s an in-depth statistical look at today’s referee, Alan Muir. We have the latest from The Ticket Office and the Commercial Department and the latest stats, facts and figures for the 2011/2012 campaign.

The programme is available for £3 and is currently on sale from the Club Shop and Jack Daniels as well as the usual sellers located in and around the ground pre-match.

Motherwell U19s continued their excellent run of form with an impressive 3-0 away win over St Johnstone.

Both teams were level after an even first-half but it was the Steelmen who broke the deadlock 13 minutes into the second half.

Josh Watt took the corner and his inswinger caught out Saints keeper xxxx who could only punch the ball into his own net. The goal has since been credited to the winger.

Motherwell doubled their advantage from another corner, Watt’s delivery again causing problems, and when Keiran McGachie bundled the ball across the goal, defender Euan Murray was on hand to force it over the line for his third in two games.

Just before the end Motherwell added a third and it again came from a corner kick. Adam Asghar attacked a dangerous near post cross, it bounced down kindly for Keiran McGachie who prodded his ninth of the season into an empty net.

Motherwell: Stewart, Devlin (Cummins), Francis-Angol, Murray, Brownlie, Mboa-Mekongo (Leitch), Asghar, Watt, Hetherington, Moore (Erwin), McGachie

Subs Not Used:  Green, Dunn

.TV >> Gordon Young’s Reaction

.TV >> Euan Murray’s Reaction

.TV >> Match Highlights

‘Well boss Stuart McCall has dubbed tomorrow’s clash with Hearts at Fir Park as ‘the biggest game of the season’.

The Steelmen are battling it with the Gorgie club, along with St Johnstone and perhaps a few others, for third place in the Scottish Premier League table.

McCall’s men currently sit with a six-point advantage ahead of the game and the 47-year old is desperate to extend that further,but warned of a tough battle ahead against a talented Hearts side.

[pullquote]Make no mistake, this is our biggest match of the season so far and it would be great if our supporters come out in force and bring their singing voices with them.[/pullquote]

“Make no mistake, this is our biggest match of the season so far and it would be great if our supporters come out in force and bring their singing voices with them,” he told MFC TV.

“It’s a huge game for the club. It’s an old cliché but it’s an old fashioned six-pointer. We could be sitting tomorrow night as many as nine points ahead of Hearts, or as little as three. We are looking forward to it; the boys have trained really well this week and are in confident mood.

“Let’s be clear though, Hearts are a quality side there is no doubt about it. Regardless of some of the problems they might have had off the park, which is sad to see at any club, and losing one or two players in the transfer window, they are a strong outfit with a good coach.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ONLY ON MFC TV-

Under 19s boss Gordon Young is hoping his charges can keep up their recent good form when they take on St Johnstone tomorrow.

The young Steelmen face their Perthshire opponents at Stirling Uni tomorrow (1pm) off the back of two terrific wins; a 3-2 success away at Dundee United and a 7-1 hammering of Inverness Caley.

Saints won the corresponding fixture back in September 3-2 and Young is hoping his side can gain some level of revenge for that defeat.

“Every game is difficult in this league and we have tried to give the players the best possible preparation for the match,” he said.

“We have a rough idea on how Saints will shape up and we’ve no doubts on how we’re going to play; it’s yet another opportunity for the lads to go and express themselves.

“The last time the teams met, St Johnstone were rightly awarded two penalty kicks, one of which was the last kick of the ball. We were 2-0 down and brought it back to 2-2 and, as has been the norm for a great part of the season, we were guilty of not converting our chances.

“We hoped to have learned from that game and we’ve set them targets to put the record straight, as it were, and they’ve got that opportunity tomorrow.”

-WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON MFC TV-

Legendary full-back Stevie Hammell is the third ‘Well player to test his golfing talent in the 10-yard Bucket Challenge.

Jamie Murphy kicked things off with a disappointing 101 and was quickly shown up by Irish defender, who did it in a solid 18.

It’s now the former Scotland International’s turn. Can he get to the top of the leaderboard and scoop a fourball at one of Scotland’s top courses as a prize?

-SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES HAMMELL TO CHIP IN-

Motherwell FC today released their annual accounts for the year ending 31 May 2011 ahead of their AGM for shareholders on Thursday 23rd February.

Highlights

• The club reported a profit of £541,663 (up from £18,884 in 2009/10)
• Operating Income was £5.9m (an increase of 36% on 2009/10)
• Operating Costs were stable at £5.6m (£5.5m in 2009/10)
• Net transfer fees were £184,268 (down from £1.1m in 2009/10)
• The club has no bank debt

Commenting on the figures, Vice Chairman Derek Weir said: “Last year was an exceptional performance period on the pitch which meant we were able to record a very positive outcome financially. This enabled us to maintain our commitment to fund the football department at a time of extreme pressure on all clubs.

“However, our fans, shareholders and members should note that the board position is that we have no room for complacency. While the club is in a strong position relative to many of our competitors, we are subject to the same cost and income pressure as everyone else. The continued balancing of these pressures while maintaining a quality product on the pitch and off is extremely challenging.

“Moreover the retirement of our major shareholder means that the club cannot rely on his generosity in managing cash flow and potential shortfalls from here on in.

“It is imperative that the club builds its strategic reserve to at least £1.5m and that we keep that target under review. To achieve this we will need to be successful in the delivery of the ‘Well Society and its associated fundraising. We also all have to recognise that the club must be very active, every season, in the identification, development and trading of football talent. We want to do so on terms that suit the club and the players but we can only reach that point when we have achieved our reserve target.

“On current trading, despite the positive performance of the team and a very welcome increase in attendances, we are unlikely to record a profit in 2011/12 largely due to the lack of player trade activity in the last two windows. This position is not sustainable and will require close management by the board.

“The board would like to stress however that we are very positive about the potential at Motherwell FC to secure a sustainable and successful future for the club. We are delighted at the progress on the football side led by the excellent management team of Stuart McCall and Kenny Black. We are extremely proud of all they have done and are doing. We are excited by the progress made by the work of our Community Trust and by all the off the field improvements being made by our Chief Executive and her team. A review of our academy system is underway and we hope to announce exciting developments on that in due course.

“We want to play our part in the rejuvenation of our national game in Scotland and achieve our goal of being the best Community and Family Club in Scotland.”