Ross County v Motherwell 04/11/17

[MJC]

In the end a far more respectable scoreline than it was at half time but you can't go in three down at the break and realistically expect to take anything, yet unbelievably it sounds like we almost did.

Credit to Robinson for again making the right subs at half time which appeared to change the game just as it did against County back in August, only this time we weren't so fortunate and did indeed find ourselves 3-0 down at half time as we could easily have done that day.

It's encouraging that we can 'up' our game in second halfs of games this season, unlike last season when we played okay for the first twenty then never kicked another ball, but at the end of the day a game lasts 90 minutes and too often this season we haven't found our stride until after half time but have been fortunate that the opposition have been wasteful or ineffective as County, Killie and Rangers in the Cup were.

Needless to say but if we play like that in the Cup Final then Celtic could very well be five or six up by half time.

[Mackie The Staggie]

2 hours ago, yoda said:

I'm already mentally preparing myself for DKD's inevitable summer departure 

 

1 hour ago, Savage Henry said:

For about a fifth of his value, no doubt.

[Gianfranco]

There was very little between the teams to be honest but when you defend like we did in the first half you tend to lose. It was a weird game where not many chances were missed and not a lot happened.

I was worried when I saw moult was upfront on his own as it doesn't suit him. That's the worst I've seen him for us as nothing stuck. Although he still scored and the finish for the offside goal was sublime.

Bowman was easily our man of the match. He stopped Davies totally dominating and linked up well. I don't think Bigi and Tanner should start together in the future. We basically gifted County the win with our defending.

[thejailender]

Surprise 3-0 lead at half time. It wasn't a true reflection on the half, just that County were clinical with their chances.
Davis caused a few problems for Motherwell at the set pieces. But County were a lot more inventive than we've been this season and all three goals were well worked moves.
Who's the Motherwell defender (Kipre??) a big unit of a bloke but was woeful in the air. Beat by Curran and DKD (smallest players on the park) time after time, but in fairness to him he was decent at defending the ball on the deck - a class tackle which I thought was going to be a pen.

Second half and Bowman made a difference, obviously scoring early gave them a lift, but he gave Davis more of a challenge.
Moult got his standard goal against us. And it was fairly nervy for the last 10 minutes.

Excellent 3 points though, and with results of teams around us pretty much going our way too, a excellent day out

[Spain]

Bizarre game to a degree, deservedly lead at half time but 3-0 flattered us. Motherwell slightly edged the second half but 2-0 for that half slightly flattered them too. All in all a narrow win for us was a fair result though.

[capt_oats]

Meh...

[bunglebonce]

Coyle made the correct choice then, of starting with 4-1-4-1 / 4-3-3.  Kipre and Dunne often had to pick up Keillor-Dunn and Gardyne, which in turn meant that Tait and Cadden couldn’t always stay high up the pitch.

When Motherwell had the ball at the back in the first half they had two men spare, but Curran - and in turn O’Brien - still managed to keep them honest with their energy.  The change in formation was coming and perhaps Robinson ought to have done it sooner.

Seeing Bowman score so soon after coming on was alarming and he was definitely the biggest factor in Motherwell turning it around a little.  He’s like a more physically imposing Curran, which is a big compliment.

I thought it was appropriate that MFC’s highlights show the spell of pressure leading up to Bowman’s goal, particularly the number of crosses that went in from their left side.  If Frear is going to be given time to shape crosses like that for Moult and Bowman then any team is in trouble. Thankfully Naismith kept him fairly quiet for the rest of the match. 

Shame about the other side.  Dow and Kelly were so far off their counterparts towards the end of the match that it wasn’t a shock to see the goal come from there.  For a centre-back Fraser is quite weak at defending the far post, so when County’s left flank is beaten so easily then it’s simple to take Davies out of the game and hurt County where they are weakest.  Kelly was okay on the whole but Coyle should look at strengthening at left-back.  I’m sorry to say that Dow is stealing a wage in that play-dodging form. 

I can’t remember Jim McIntyre using Routis as the holding midfielder before, but if allowed O’Brien to be a nuisance further forward and O’Brien had a terrific game, epitomised by winning the 50/50s in the lead up to the second goal.  I prefer him in that position. As always Routis has all the talent to be good in whatever position, but he switches off too easily.  He was effectively the spare man in midfield in the second half but he wasn’t able to complete enough of his passes to bring the tempo out of the game - Draper did better in that respect.  A fraught end but a deserved win I think. 

[Les Westander of County]

This was probably the best County performance I've seen at Home this season. I correctly anticipated we'd probably need to score 3 to defeat Motherwell, and was not confident we would do that. Gardyne seems to have remembered where the insides of the goal frame can be found. Lots of confidence which particularly grew after scoring the first goal. Draper barging through, taking the ball off people, passing accurately was helpful, and others were also winning the ball more than previously. Midfield seems to be working more effectively and I thought Routis did well in the defensive midfield role of 4-1-4-1. 

Thought we were the better team, but losing a goal so soon after the restart was not good for managing the game. Gave Motherwell belief and began to make us doubt. Even though there were not a lot of clear chances I thought it was an exciting, fast and engrossing game. 

Jolly well done, County.

 

 

[Al B]

I love Steve Robinson, but as time passes it gets more and more concerning/frustrating that his biggest skill seems to be rectifying his mistakes.

Obviously I'd rather that than a manager that couldn't put it right, but there's clearly a lot of initial misjudgement there and it's at least every other game.

[Casagolda]

Aye, yesterdays half time scoreline has been coming this season. Maybe not quite 3-0 but how many times have we came on here this season saying we were lucky to be level at half time only to turn things round 2nd half?

Don’t get me wrong, yesterdays first half was far from the worst we’ve had this season but for once we didn’t manage to ride our luck till half time and County were clinical when the chances presented themselves. For once the damage was irreparable and despite Robinson’s subs/formation change again having the desired effect in the 2nd half we’d ultimately left ourselves with too much to do.

Strange game overall, County had about 4 chances in the first half and scored with 3 of them. We had about 3 chances in the 2nd half and scored with 2 of them. Not a great deal actually happened outside the goals and the general play on offer from both sides wasn’t exactly much to shout about. Fair play to County though, took their chances and first half Keillor-Dunn and Gardyne were causing us all sorts of trouble. Never got to grips with Davies at set pieces either which was extremely disappointing and ultimately led to two of the goals.

For us, not the worst we’ve played this season but a very disappointing performance riddled with errors and bad defending which has been most unlike us this season. Dropping Bowman and Campbell for me was a poor decision by Robinson and played a huge part in our soft and insipid first half display which ultimately cost us the game.

[dingdong1929]

Filmed from the West stand rather than the East, so gives a much better view of Gardyne's first half display.

As good as the earlier video is for showing how easily beaten Routis and Fraser were for the Motherwell goals, this video shows the half-arsed defending at the cross (particularly Dow).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/scotland/41873530