Motherwell had a productive weekend, with the final scoring of the week being a solid 8/10.

After the highs of qualifying for the CECIL cup final, Motherwell had a visit to last season’s winner Elgin City and a visit from Arbroath to look forward to.  ELG came out strong in the first match, despite having some EL concerns in their squad. It looked like this could be a very close one, with both sides looking to create a lot of chances. But, it was the visitors who would dominate the first half.  Tawanda Maswanhise scored the opener after 21 minutes, and then it was captain Ray Wylie Hubbard whose 6-minute brace really opened up a gap. 3-0 at halftime could have meant things would get out of control, but ELG responded well to the deficit. The second half would see them create more chances than MOT, but Kevin Budinauckas was up to the challenge. His 6 saves ensured that ELG couldn’t manage a comeback and earned captain Ray Wylie Hubbard a captain’s bonus. MOT rode their luck slightly to win with the bonus, but were good value for their win. Combined with STE’s loss to East Fife, Motherwell move top for the first time this season.

But, the match home to Arbroath would be anything but simple. ARB lined up with several of their T-11 at SL 2 or 3 for this one, but the home side was feeling confident. A 13% to 4.8% shot chance advantage and a 8 SL GK advantage meant that MOT expected they would have a few goals by the half and be able to wrap this one up early. If only the narrative went that easily! It was the visitors who got the first shot and first goal, with Gordon Smith scoring 11 minutes in. Motherwell would have to wait until the 31st minute to get their first shot, putting to bed the idea that they would hit their expected 6 shots by halftime. Guy Clark leveled right on the stroke of halftime with MOT’s 3rd shot, leaving it all to play for. Halftime subs jumped the shot chances to 15.4% to 8.3%, but again MOT just couldn’t find any shots. The visitors re-took the lead 48 minutes in and got to a shocking 3-1 lead after 71 minutes. ARB were up to 6 chances on goal to MOT’s 5, with manager Foss-Grant bewildered as to why his players weren’t getting closer to their expected 10 shots by this point. His frustration with his players must have crept onto the pitch, as the Motherwell players turned up the tempo from there. Tawanda Maswanhise scored in the 79th minute to bring it back to within 1, and the equalizer came from striker Billy Bland in the 85th minute. Motherwell had 5 minutes left to rescue the 3 points from way back, but even with a 10.9% shot chance 5 minutes is not a lot of time. There would be no more shots in this one, and given the game state MOT can feel lucky that they even came away with a point. STE move back into first by a point, and MOT will be left to wonder what could have been had they been a bit riskier with ELs and had a bit more luck with their shot creation.

Motherwell welcome new signing Elijah Just to the squad. This apprentice winger brings a wealth of pace and skill to rejuvenate Motherwell’s winger corps. From New Zealand, Motherwell insiders expect that Elijah will slowly replace former captain Jerry Jeff Walker in the squad. As a second apprentice signing for the year, Just likely serves as the final youth signing for the Well this season. “While it is nice to have our business done early, it also comes with the downside of potentially missing out on late-season auction bargains. However, we felt Elijah’s skill at the position was too good to pass up on, and that we had no guarantees of seeing a similar prospect for the rest of the season,” said manager Foss-Grant.

Motherwell now have a fairly settled T-17 for the remainder of the year. 3 star strikers, 4 WGs, 3 MFs (With Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle likely to retire at mid-season), 5 DF/SW/DMs, and 2 GKs. With 3 weak defensive covers, however, it is possible even Jerry Jeff Walker could be moved on, with SL8 DF Han U-jin serving as the 17th man instead.

Motherwell have made their second CECIL cup final in a row afyer dispatching of Falkirk, 7-2 on aggregate. The first leg was, frankly, pretty lucky for the Well. Visiting Falkirk Stadium, the stats were pretty even between the sides. MOT had the advantage in net and with finishing skill, but the match would swing even more in their favor than that. FAL's gk was keeping them in the match early on after the visitors were givem the bulk of the chances. But then the match really turned when FAL's single aggressive player conceded a penalty and got a red card. Talk about harsh! Terrible luck for FAL. The second half would do them no more favors, with only a single shot being created, and that shot being Motherwell's second. 0-2 the final, and MOT had one foot in the final.

The second leg at Fir Park was an interesting test, with FAL playing counterattack trying to catch Motherwell taking their foot off the gas. Had MOT played a tactic that played poorly against 'c' it could have been trouble, but fortunately for the home side 'e' was the tactic of the day. MOT quickly put two on the board in the first 8 minutes, and this tie felt over. However, FAL were nog ready to call it quits! They scored two replies to bring it to 2-2 (4-2) amd give themselves a shot at the half. But, again, Motherwell would come out hot. Billy Bland scoring 2 minutes into the half killed the visitors' momentum, and Ray Wylie Hubbard iced the tie with a late brace. 5-2 on the day and a big margin to see the well into the final.

They will play Stranraer in a rematch of the CECIL cup final from season 49. Let's hope this time turns out better for Motherwell!