Motherwell and Forfar faced off in the SESL Cup semifinals, with Forfar looking to pull a big upset to keep their magical cup run alive. Motherwell seem to now be shfiting their full focus on to the cup, as they lined up 10 of their T-11 up for this one. Motherwell were favorites here, but a cup semi can always throw up a surprise or two.

Forfar came out of the gates hot in this one. Clearly the gameplan was to put Motherwell on the back foot early and catch them by surprise. And, what do you know, it worked: Nathan Cannon found Stuart Morrison at the top of the box and Forfar took a surprise lead, just 3 minutes in! Motherwell were rattled: they would give up 3 more shots on target in the first 17 minutes. Had it not been for the efforts of Kevin Budinauckas, Motherwell might have found themselves in a hole too big to climb out of and this semi might have been over before all of the fans had found their seats.

But, it seems that seeing the heroics of their big man between the sticks fired up the Well. Striker Guy Clark was seen rallying the troops after Budinauckas' third save, and sure enough he would get his chance to do something about it not 60 seconds later. Receiving the ball on the right side, Clark made the most of Motherwell's first shot and leveled the scores 18 minutes in. Right from the kickoff he had another chance - this time saved! But, Forfar would not be so lucky from the ensuing corner. This time Guy Clark became provider, setting up Billy Bland with a nice chipped cross, and all of a sudden Motherwell were up, 2-1. Oh how things could have been different had Forfar finished their chances! They went from being up and completely dominant to behind in the space of two minutes! Football is cruel sometimes. Forfar looked like the wind had been taken out of their sails, as Motherwell kept getting chances as the half carried on. Some big saves from Neil Stafford kept them in it, but just before the half former SRA man Al Bondigas got the important 4th goal of the match, putting Motherwell up by two at the half.

One way traffic was the story of most of the second half, as well, with Neil Stafford being the only reason Forfar kept in this one for as long as they did. A goal by Luis Suarez was mixed in between goals by Maswanhise, Al Bondigas, and BB King, meaning this one would end 6-2 and Motherwell would advance to the cup final.

Man of the match was given to Billy Bland, but it is our opinion that it should have gone to someone else. Cheers to Neil Stafford for making 3 saves on Billy Bland - not many GKs can say they've done that this year with the season he's having.

Motherwell will likely care about the cup final more than any other match remaining on the schedule. Potentially just two wins away from a treble...wow. With our struggles to finish off winning trophies in seasons past, I never would have imagined we'd be this close to this kind of glory.

Finally, one side note about tactics: Don't forget that Opportunistic is a bad tactic to play against Early Cross or Longball. I always remember not to counterattack against those tactical combinations, but often forget that opportunistic is also a bad choice there. Since defenders add some of their SL to OFF with that combination, switching from 'N' to 'O' when we went up 3 goals resulted in FOR getting a boost to their shot % while MOT lost some of theirs. Bad move! Didn't cost us here, but it could in a match where we decide to move to 'O' at a closer score.

Motherwell made it through our tough run of fixtures not just well, but basically perfect. Current run is 29 matches unbeaten with 14 wins in a row. 9 of those 14 have been by 3+, meaning that our second captain is now up to 8 free PU. The big win over STE has practically wrapped up the league, meaning that Motherwell should be crowned as champions for the second time either this weekend or next. One win in the remaining 4 fixtures will seal the deal.

What that means is that focus has fully turned to the SESL Cup. Tomorrow brings our semifinal matchup with Forfar Athletic. Motherwell will have John Lee Hooker suspended for this match due to his 5 yellow cards accummulated, but Forfar will also be missing a key defensive midfielder in Kieran Inglis. Motherwell should have the roster advantage, but tactics, aggression, and luck can always turn the tide in a 1-off cup match. Let's hope that the FOR GK doesn't have a stellar day and that we can have some good shot creation.

It already is certainly Motherwell's best season ever, but the SESL Cup can turn this into something truly legendary for the club.

Motherwell faced Elgin City in the quarterfinals of the SESL Cup, as MOT aim to continue their incredible hot streak. A win here would not only put them into the last four, but also would have them in a great spot for swings at trophies #2 and #3 of the season. Given Motherwell's lead in the league, ELs can now be applied more heavily to cup matches and we can aim for T-11 lineups for those knockouts.

 Motherwell started with their standard 4-2-4 N formation, while ELG came out with a 4-2-4 E with 10 players playing 'a'. That aggression put them up there with about the same shot % as Motherwell, which I think was a really wise move from Jason to help make up for the SL gap, even if it exposed them to some risk in cards and penalties. It was enough to get ELG the first shot of the match...but then luck swung very, very much against them. Memphis Slim scored an opener 2 minutes into this one, and straight from the restart Billy Bland got in on the action. Motherwell were up 2-0 just 180 seconds in!. This gave ELG a huge mountain to climb, and that mountain turned into Everest very quickly: Tawanda Maswanhise made the score 3-0, and star Winger Olly McDonald got himself sent off a few minutes later. At that point it would seem there was no way back for ELG. They were able to pull one back right before the break, but it would take a lot for them to find two more with 10 men on the field. By the 74th minute, goalscorer Kane Hester was sent off, as well, and there was truly no chance from there. Motherwell would get one more for the gamblers who bet on a Guy Clark goal, and this one would finish 4-1. Olly Kelly made 6 fine saves to give his side a chance, including 3 big saves on MOT's start strikers, but he couldn't hold back the tide. Motherwell got some early luck with the goals, but the red cards really made the biggest difference on the day.

ELG will have a hard weekend ahead with suspensions and injuries, while MOT will return home to face STE as the title race will either be restarted or all but finished with this one. Should the Well end up with 3 points from that match they can just about focus 100% on the cup.

Next cup match will be MOT v FOR in the semis, with both semifinals lining up as Div 1 v Div 3. Should be a good one!

Motherwell have never won two trophies in a season before, and it certainly looks like that is about to change. After their CECIL cup win, Motherwell have not lost a match. In fact, they are 26 matches unbeaten, with 23 wins and 3 draws in that span. Finances are in great shape, morale is at an all time high, and with six league matches it looks like they should be able to hold onto their current 7 point lead at the top.

The big match of the week was the SESL cup round of 16 match against Stenhousemuir. Both sides were aiming for success in both the league and the cup,  so this one would be juicy. From the start, both sides looked fairly evenly matched. But it was Motherwell who would surge to the early lead, with two quickfire goals building a 2-0 halftime lead. Stenny were able to pull one back late in the second half, but it was Motherwell who had the luck today. 2-1 and advancing to a QF matchup with Elgin.

In the league, Motherwell found the matchups a bit easier, facing stalls that allowed them to be on the front foot for most of the weekend. 3-0 home to FRA and 4-1 away to PT extends our lead at the top and earns a couple captain's bonuses. Great week for the Well, and it sure seems like it's going to be a magical season come the end of it.