When setting a team up to start a match well, the managers couldn’t have asked for much more than scoring with their first attack from a corner kick.
Fontaine hadn’t scored for the Staggies before, but you would think that he has been finishing volleys with his weak foot for all of his career given the way he angled the shot from beyond the near post.
County looked the more dangerous team for the first 15 minutes but unfortunately conceded a goal from a corner kick themselves. Peter Hartley was a threat at the far post from Liam Polworth’s deliveries and a low smash from a Hartley knockdown levelled the contest.
After losing the equaliser, I thought the County players really needed to get their foot on the ball more, to slow the game down as Motherwell’s confidence soared. However, the visitors were culpable of trying to force the killer pass too early too often and the Steelmen were able to exert more and more pressure.
Given the vast experience throughout the team it was naivety that contributed to their downfall.
That was particularly disappointing when County were set up with three central midfielders and should have been able to compete in the middle of the park, but were out-run and out-played by their hosts.
Motherwell got some joy from Allan Campbell bursting forward from midfield – it was Campbell’s volley after a spell of continued pressure that got Well ahead with just a quarter of the match gone.
With their tails up, Motherwell played with a tempo and intensity that County couldn’t maintain and Ross Laidlaw did his best to keep the scoreline down through the middle portion of the match.
Despite some attacking changes, Campbell was excellent and the home side saw out the game comfortably.
