St Mirren 0-1 Motherwell: Tony Watt nets dramatic late winner for Motherwell at former hunting ground

Former St Mirren loanee Tony Watt scored a stoppage-time header as Motherwell earned a narrow 1-0 Premiership victory at St Mirren Park, with the hosts seeing Alex Gogic sent off just moments earlier.

A poor game looked to be petering out to a goalless draw when Watt connected with Lennon Miller's free-kick to nod beyond Ellery Balcombe at the death.

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Stephen Robinson's side were on top for the majority of the game but could not find a way past goalkeeper Aston Oxborough, who made a number of key saves.

The victory arrests a run of three-successive defeats for Stuart Kettlewell's side, who move up to fifth place as Saints remain in seventh.

The hosts were unchanged from the side beaten last weekend at Dundee United, while Motherwell made two alterations following their midweek loss to Dundee.

Out went Kofi Balmer and Harry Paton as they were replaced by Shane Blaney and Andy Halliday.

It was St Mirren who had the first chance but Conor McMenamin's near-post free-kick was easily saved by Oxborough.

Greg Kiltie's header from a Marcus Fraser cross also landed safely in the goalkeeper's arms before the forward's turn and shot was deflected for a corner.

The game then went into a lull with the strong wind not helping either side get into their stride, with overhit passes regularly running out of play.

It was St Mirren who nearly broke the impasse. Kiltie played in McMenamin but his fierce strike hit the top of the crossbar and went over.

It looked like Oxborough had helped the ball on its way with a fine stop but referee Dan McFarlane instead awarded a goal kick.

The home side continued to dominate possession but Gogic's header from a free-kick lacked the power and accuracy to beat the goalkeeper.

Saints started the second half again on top and McMenamin's ferocious effort looked destined for the top corner, only for Oxborough to pull off a terrific save.

The flow of the game was not helped by the officiating, with Kettlewell shown a yellow card for protesting too loudly following a questionable decision.

Motherwell were struggling to create much and Watt saw an effort blocked. And they came even closer when Halliday teed up Steven Seddon, whose goal-bound volley was expertly saved by Balcombe.

St Mirren made changes to try to gain some fresh attacking impetus and substitute Mikael Mandron saw his header denied by Oxborough.

McMenamin was next to try his luck from a free-kick just outside the box but shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Balcombe then rescued his team again at the other end, coming out to block well from Apostolos Stamateloupoulos, before saving again from Watt.

Gogic was shown his second yellow card for a trip on Moses Ebiye and from the resultant free-kick, Watt claimed the winner.

What the managers said...

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "We've taken a lot of flak over the last two weeks.

"We've taken a lot of criticism. This now doesn't become tit-for-tat and an opportunity for me to badmouth people and to give folk stick because we win a game of football.

"But I feel we've been pretty consistent this year for the size of our club and the resources we've got.

"And I feel that the players get their just reward for a fully-concentrated performance.

"I actually feel - in a ridiculous way - we played better against Dundee through the week and lost the game 4-1.

"Today it was just about having that kind of mental strength and toughness to stay in the game. And you know what? I think the players really deserved it. That's the way I see it.

"It's a big win because it takes us two points off fourth position in the league."

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We did (deserve to lose) because we didn't defend in the last minute the way we should have done.

"We didn't have enough people stand up and die to stop the goal going in. It was a poor standard of game in my opinion. The weather obviously played a big part in that with the wind.

"We had a lot of half chances, we created a little bit but we didn't take them. As the game goes on, Motherwell were relying on a set-play to maybe win the game. And we haven't done the basics right at that last free-kick.

"We dropped too early, we didn't stay with runners and our line was all over the place. It's something I'm not happy with.

"The least that happens today is you take a point out of the game. So, it's bitterly disappointing we haven't done that."

What's coming up in the Scottish Premiership?

• St Mirren fixtures
• Motherwell fixtures
• Scottish Premiership fixtures

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