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Scouser Steve Jennings was quick to praise his teammate’s character after Tuesday’s superb win over Dunfermline.

With the Steelmen down to ten men,  a gutsy performance was needed from every player on the pitch and the inspirational midfielder was the driving force behind his sides’ impressive and spirited display, which saw ‘Well earn three points at home for the first time since September.

“We showed a bit of character straight away,” the former Tranmere man said.

“As soon as we went down to ten men I thought that was when we started getting on the ball and having a go. Fair play to the lads. We don’t want to lose a man every week but it sort of gave us a little boost and we started creating a few chances. Fortunately Henrik has taken his goal early doors.

“I think you have to take the positives. They think they have one over on us and become lackadaisical and gaps would open up for us. I’d like to think the wheels are back on the wagon now with a draw and a win in two games.

“We’re looking forward to saturday now; it’s a really big game for us and we can go in full of confidence.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV-

Stuart McCall couldn’t hide his pride after his ten-man Motherwell side roared to an excellent 3-1 win over Dunfermline.

Skipper Stephen Craigan was sent packing by referee Alan Muir for a clash with Pars striker Andrew Barrowman after just eighteen minutes.

But despite being a man down, every single ‘Well player stepped it up a level and outfought their opponents all over the pitch.

The win returned the Steelmen to third place in the SPL and the former Scotland International was quick to praise the effort and desire of his troops.

“I am so proud of each and every player,” said McCall.

“To lose a man so early was bad enough, but the fitness levels were excellent and everyone played their part; I am really delighted.

“It was a big win for us; everyone talked about the incentive Dunfermline had to get off the bottom but we had one too. That was to get back into third place with a really good performance, following on from the second half on Saturday, and we’ve managed that.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON MFC TV-

Pictures from the 3-1 win over Dunfermline 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

Ten-man Motherwell moved back into third place with an excellent 3-1 victory over Dunfermline at Fir Park this evening.

After the dismissal of skipper Stephen Craigan, Henrik Ojamaa opened the scoring on his first full start for the club before Nicky Law doubled the hosts’ lead.

Andy Kirk restored hope for the Dunfermline on 63 minutes, before substitute Chris Humphrey netted ten minutes from time to secure all three points for the Fir Park side.

Defeat for Dunfermline means they remain one point adrift at the foot of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Dunfermline looked to test Motherwell keeper Darren Randolph in the opening minutes, but Mark Kerr’s effort was well wide of the target. The hosts were struggling to create an opening of their own and Jamie Murphy’s stinging effort was well blocked by Alex Keddie.

After 13 minutes the home support were angered when Henrik Ojamaa was flagged for offside as he raced through on Iain Turner’s goal following an excellent through-ball by Steve Jennings.

There was more controversy just three minutes later when Motherwell captain Stephen Craigan was dismissed by referee Alan Muir following a clash with Andrew Barrowman. The Dunfermline striker was also booked for his part in proceedings.

Craigan appeared to move his head towards Barrowman and Muir wasted little time in flashing a red card.

Stuart McCall responded to the dismissal of his skipper by replacing Murphy with Tim Clancy as he attempted to bolster his sides’ defence. From the resulting free-kick, Dunfermline came close to breaking the deadlock with Liam Buchanan forcing Randolph into a smart stop.

Ojamaa repaid McCall’s decision to hand him his first ever league start when he fired Motherwell in front after 29 minutes.

The Estonian striker twisted and turned on the edge of the penalty box before striking a low shot which bounced over the outstretched arms of Turner in the Dunfermline goal.

The visitors responded with a flurry of promising attacks and Joe Cardle brought out an excellent save from Randolph with his powerful close-range effort.

The Motherwell fans continued to vent their anger at referee Muir, as the whistler showed yellow cards to Clancy and then Ojamaa before the interval.

Motherwell started the second half brightly as they looked to build on their slender advantage.

Jennings flashed a shot wide of the target before the home side doubled their lead after 52 minutes.

Ojamaa got on the end of Michael Higdon’s flick and he laid the ball to Nicky Law who unleashed a superb drive into the roof of the net.

In a bid to help find his side a way back into the match Jim McIntyre introduced Paul Willis to replace Cardle.

Willis’ introduction seemed to add some extra width to the visitors’ game and on 63 minutes they gave their small band of travelling supporters some hope when Andy Kirk connected perfectly with Paddy Boyle’s cross to leave Randolph with no chance.

The hosts made their second switch of the night after 71 minutes when the influential Ojamaa made way for Robert McHugh.

Dunfermline continued to probe for an equaliser and Randolph did well to hold Willis’ shot from range.

Martin Hardie was introduced to replace Buchanan with 15 minutes remaining and Motherwell also made a change as Chris Humphrey came on in place of Law.

The visitors continued their assault on the Motherwell goal and Kirk passed up a glorious opportunity to level the match on 78 minutes when he found space in the box after good work from David Graham but his strike was inches past the post.

With ten minutes remaining Motherwell put the game out of the reach of their opponents, McHugh latched on to Randolph’s long ball and he found Chris Humphrey who coolly slotted the ball past Turner.

[tab:As it happened]

 Alastair Reilly at Fir Park

93mins – FULL TIME! Motherwell 3 – 1 Dunfermline.

90mins – 3 minutes added on time

85mins – 3,772 fans here tonight. ‘Well support brilliant. Special mention to the singing section in the east. They’ve never shut up!

83mins – A terrific night of entertainment at Fir Park. We’ve been superb with every player giving his all for the cause.

80mins – 3 – 1 The sub capitilises on a Higdon flick-on which McHugh brought down wonderfully. Cool finish from Chris.

GOOOOOOAL! HUMPHREY!

75mins – ‘WELL SUB: Law off, Humphrey on.

75mins –  DUNFERMLINE SUB: Buchanan off, Hardy on.

74mins – Willis unlucky with a left footed drive straight into Randolph’s arms.

71mins – Ojamaa has been tremendous tonight. Deserving of his ovation as he left the park.

71mins – WELL SUB: Ojamaa off for McHugh

65mins – And now a corner for the Pars. Well look a little rocked.

62mins: GOAL- Dunfermline, Andy Kirk

56mins — DUNFERMLINE SUB: Cardle off for Willis

52mins – It’s 2 – 0. Great work from Ojamaa lays in Lawsy who bangs in his first of the season. Great strike!

GOOOOOOAL! LAW!

46mins – Ball breaks to Jennings on the edge of the edge of the box but his volley bounces harmlessly past Turner’s post.

45mins – Teams are back out. No changes. Huge half for both teams. More of the same please boys!

HALF-TIME: And the half time whistle blows. ‘Well go in as 1-0 leaders.

45mins – 2 minutes added on.

43mins – Approaching half time. Few scares but to be expected with 10 men. Enthralling stuff. Can the ‘Well hold out?

37mins – Ironic cheers as he finally gives the home side a favourable decision. Free kick just inside the Pars half.

35mins – Alan Muir making no friends inside Fir Park tonight. The ‘Well faithful are furious with him!

34mins – Good spell of pressure from Dunfermline with 3 corners in a row, each seemingly resulting in a penalty claim for the Pars.

31mins – Clancy booked for a challenge on the edge of the box. Soft, is one way to describe that!

28mins – 1 – 0 ‘Well! Absolutely brilliant goal from the little Estonian. Quick foot work on the edge and a lovely curler into bottom corner.

GOAL! OJAMAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

26mins – DUNFERMLINE SUB: Barrowman off for Kirk

24mins – Uphill struggle for the Steelmen now with 10 men. Still, with 24 minutes on the clock, they are coping admirably and are arguably on top.

18mins – ‘WELL SUB: Tim Clancy on for Jamie Murphy.

17mins – RED CARD: Stephen Craigan – Referee Alan Muir seems to suggest a headbutt.

16mins – Cardle (I think) goes down in the box after minimal contact with Hutchinson, ref dismisses his half hearted claim

15mins – Ojamma flagged for offside denying what would have surely been a goal. Looked a tight one.

10mins – Ojamma breaks down the right hand side but his deflected cross trickles agonisingly across the box with no takers

5mins – Quiet start. Ojamaa making a nuisance of himself with energetic runs not quite coming off.

1min– And we’re off! ‘Well kick off. Come on!

[tab:Reaction]

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall:

“We talked about before the game about how big an incentive Dunfermline had to win the game after their great result on Saturday but we had a massive incentive too.

“We were constantly reminded of how long it had been since we last won at home, tonight we scored three good goals and the players kept their energy levels up very well – it’s a happy but tired dressing room.”

Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre:

“There’s a reason that we are bottom of the league and that is our consistency levels.

“When Motherwell went down to ten men that was the perfect chance to go and grab the game by the scruff of the neck, but we didn’t pass the ball well or play with enough tempo to force Motherwell into making mistakes.

“After you come off a result like the one we had on Saturday and with the early sending-off you hope that you can build on that but we were unable to do that tonight.”

 [tab:Man-of-the-match]

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Motherwell FC today (Tuesday) verbally notified the SFA of the clubs’ intent to contest the fixed one-match suspension offered to Michael Higdon by the Compliance Officer.

The club will lodge the official appeal before 3pm tomorrow at which point the matter will be referred to the Judicial Panel with a Fast Track Tribunal convened on Thursday, 26th January.

The club will make no further comment until after that process has been complete.

Motherwell’s match with Hibernian, abandoned in early December due to a small electrical fire in the South Stand, will now take place on Wednesday 22nd February.
 
Both clubs have agreed the date with the SPL and the following ticketing information will apply for the match.

• 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 Dunfermline, St Johnstone, Morton and Hearts).
• 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.
 
Chief Executive Leeann Dempster said, “The Hibs match was our first abandonment at Fir Park for about a decade and the distribution of adandonment vouchers did not go as smoothly as we would have wanted on the night.
 
“The match abandoned vouchers weren’t stand specific and, in truth, we have no real way of telling just how much were distributed on the night.  We have learned from this and systems are now in place to stop anything similar happening in future but it has meant special arrangements regarding entry for the up-coming match in February.
 
“Season Ticket holders can enter using Special Voucher H from their book and we would ask them to disregard the voucher and not to pass it on, you will get in on the night using voucher H.  For non Season Ticket holders who have match abandon tickets, we need to control numbers into each stand therefore you must exchange your voucher for a ticket before the game”.
 
“We accept this is not ideal however with a good number of matches at home before the Hibernian game there should be ample opportunity for supporters to exchange vouchers for match tickets.  I must stress again however, as a home supporter, you will not gain entry to the stadium on the night using a match abandon ticket so please make sure you are not disapointed.

“Fans can also attend on the night by buying a match ticket with prices at the same reduced rate as the original Friday night match.”

THIS IS AN ALL-TICKET MATCH – THERE WILL BE NO PAY AT THE TURNSTILE AVAILABLE ON THE NIGHT OF THE MATCH

‘Well manager Stuart McCall is keen for his side to build on their confidence boosting draw against Dundee United at the weekend.

The Steelmen showed encouraging signs throughout the second half against the Arabs and McCall is looking for his men to continue that type of performance into Tuesday’s clash with Dunfermline at Fir Park.

“It’s desperate that we get a home victory,” he said. “The longer it goes the more people keep talking about it and rightly so. We’ve not scored as many goals as we’d like at home and we’ve not won as many matches as we’d like.”

“We’re confident if we can just get that victory and get back to creating chances then that’s what we need. We’ve got players in the side that are very creative and we need them to be on the top of their game.”

Although speaking postively, McCall acknowledged the threat of a resurgent Pars side.

He said: “They must have been really low having been beat the week before by Hibs in the bottom of the table clash so for them to rise and put in a performance like that shows a lot of fighting spirit; (there is) a lot of character still in that club and they’ll be coming here in a confident manner but as I said before, we’ve got that same confidence because of our performance on Saturday.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV-

English defender Shaun Hutchinson reckons Motherwell were back to something like their best in the second half of Saturday’s match with Dundee United.

The Geordie was a part of an organised and stubborn Steelmen backline, spearheaded by the superb Darren Randolph, which kept United’s talented forwardline at bay.

Now the former Wallsend Boys Club starlet is keen to build on that positive point in the City of Discovery when Jim McIntyre’s Dunfermline visit Fir Park tomorrow night.

“Although recent performances haven’t been the best, I think we can take heart from Saturday’s second half showing,” he said.

“We are a better team when we do pass the ball and that was proven on Saturday. At the same time, big Higgy does a great job taking the ball in early which you need sometimes.

“They (Dunfermline) are fighting for their lives and battling hard and had a great result on Saturday. It should be a good game and hopefully we can take the confidence from Saturday’s performance at Tannadice and get the result.”

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON MFC TV-