Fight clubs

Kjaer Hart McGuire Anderson McAllister Tosh Dn Young Sheerin Clark Dk Young D'Jaffo Motherwell 0 Aberdeen 1 Dubourdeau Corrigan Vaughan Partridge Ramsay Fagan Lasley Pearson Hamell Clarkson McFadden Subs: Lehmann for Lasley 59, Offiong for Clarkson 73, Craig for Ramsay 90.

Not used: Woods, Cowan.

Booked: Lehmann 81, Partridge 90.

Sent off: Pearson 90.

Subs: Hinds for D'Jaffo 45, Mackie for Dk Young 76.

Not used: Preece, Tiernan, Payne.

Booked: Darren Young 12, Clark 65, Mackie 90.

Attendance: 5,636. Referee: D McDonald.

WHATEVER mesmerising concoction Motherwell are capable of conjuring up in big games against the likes of the Old Firm, it appears that Aberdeen have discovered an antidote.

Terry Butcher's unpredictable young side went into this game knowing a win would suck the north-east side deep into the mire at the bottom of the table, but an early Paul Sheerin penalty proved enough to manouevre Aberdeen six points clear again, not to mention stealing their third win out of four unbeaten meetings against the Lanarkshire side this season.

In an impoverished game that was always more of a relegation catfight than dogfight, it still generated such passions in the home side that Stephen Pearson was controversially shown a straight red card for a crude tackle on Darren Young, while Tony Vaughan and Francois Dubourdeau had to be separated by their team-mates.

It was only Aberdeen's second league win since the winter break, but manager Steve Paterson still had every right to be very pleased with his players afterwards. He had, after all, been responsible for Motherwell's first home defeat since November 16.

"It was always going to be a battle," Paterson said. "I don't think anybody thought it was going to be a pretty game, but we are delighted with the battling qualities that our team showed. The two most pleasing results we've had have been like that - when we played Dundee United we had to win to prevent us going bottom."

With Eric Deloumeaux suspended after his misdemeanours against Kilmarnock, special mentions were given to the central defensive partnership of Russell Anderson and Phil McGuire. Captain Darren Young was recalled for the first time since December to add "a bit extra in terms of defensive midfield".

"That was getting close to the best team I have available to me," Paterson said.

Laurent D'Jaffo had an early left-foot effort saved but, unfortunately for Paterson, midfielder Sheerin represents Aberdeen's most potent attacking threat at the moment. It took only six minutes yesterday for him to earn his third league goal in as many games.

On this occasion referee Dougie McDonald - a late replacement for Stuart Dougal who broke an ankle on Uefa Cup duty in Krakow during the week - correctly decided David Partridge had impeded McGuire as the defender chased D'Jaffo's head flick from a Chris Clark corner.

The 28-year-old former Ayr United midfielder is unruffled on such occasions, and his finish from 12 yards bamboozled Dubourdeau.

Motherwell's best moments came when they got James McFadden on the ball, but this was largely such a frustrating afternoon for him that he did well to avoid following Pearson for an early bath.

All too often the Scotland under-21 star's array of feints and shimmies only took him up a blind alley or Aberdeen doubled up against him to stem the danger. At one point towards the end of the first half McFadden was so distressed he lashed out with those Predators at an advertising hoarding.

There were still enough moments, however, to force a decent performance from Peter Kjaer, the veteran Danish goalkeeper who kept his place even though David Preece was deemed fit enough for a place on the bench.

First, the impressive Shaun Fagan drove a fierce shot at the Dane's midriff before Kjaer dived full length to repel McFadden's arrowing 25-yard drive. From the resultant corner, Keith Lasley was next to try his luck, but his effort landed on the roof of the net.

With the introduction of Dirk Lehmann, the home side shuffled Martyn Corrigan in to midfield and went with 4-3-3, and before long the recent signing from Newcastle Richard Offiong was given a chance to stretch his legs.

The more the game went on, the more desperate Motherwell got for the equaliser. First Pearson's sidefoot effort was cleared by a posse of men on the line after Fagan's smart trick. Then McFadden sent in a tame long-range shot, before a more constructive effort, curled with his left-foot from 25 yards forced another good save from Kjaer. The attempts reached a climax when they were denied a penalty when Lehmann fell under a Jamie McAllister challenge.

Indeed, Aberdeen could still have gone on to compound Motherwell's misery with a second goal. With 15 minutes left, Steve Tosh, once again trojan-like in the midfield areas, had a shot blocked by Fagan following nice wing play by Chris Clark, while minutes later Tosh's flinty run and cross forced Dubourdeau to prod out an outstretched foot.

Darren Mackie then scampered after Anderson's long punt, only to dally too much at the vital moment and allow Tony Vaughan to clear. That was the trigger for Vaughan and Dubourdeau's moment of madness, touching foreheads as the red mist descended. "I've had plenty of set- to's with my defenders in the past," said Butcher.

Such relegation-stressed occasions are not complete without all 20 outfield players surrounding the referee at some point, and that occurred when Pearson was ordered off. He took matters into his own hands after feeling he had been the recipient of a clumsy challenge from Darren Young which had gone unpunished.

It had seemed a little harsh at the time, not least because the referee appeared to first flash a yellow card, but Butcher was making no excuses. "Stephen is very apologetic and he is very emotional about it," he said. "We lost discipline all over the pitch. That is the worst we have played for a long, long while and we are very disappointed considering our run of good form."

The next venue for Motherwell's unique brand of football mayhem, after a 10-day break, is Ibrox.

Copyright 2003 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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