Motherwell FC: Away Days

MOTHERWELL FC: AWAY DAYS

As much as I love setting foot in Fir Park of a Saturday, (or more recently a Wednesday or Thursday) there’s something different about going to away games. Maybe it’s because everyone knows it’s harder to beat a team on their own patch as you are giving up “home advantage”. It serves as a motivation for a team to be able to get the bragging rights over a team by overturning them on their own turf.

This gives rise to the underdog spirit amongst those teams towards the wrong end of the table, where a win away from home against a much more fancied team can provide a catalyst for their season and maybe see them not featuring last on Sportscene.

An away win can be made all the more sweeter, if it involves a hefty amount of travel. An arduous trek to Inverness, and a comfortable win, means that no matter how bad the weather gets on the way back, the trip has been worth it. Even travelling a short distance can reap great rewards for an away win.

Derby games against the likes of Accies and probably more importantly Airdrie (on the rare occasion those happen), helps us to keep the rivalries going. Hearing Well fans sing about being the Pride of Lanarkshire, echoes loudest away from home, and rings in the ears of the home fans who wanted to lay claim to that title.

Every team has a bogey team away from home and for years, to me at least, trips to Tynecastle served to make that point. Hearts are normally a hard team to beat at home, for any team, but it seemed like The Mighty Well had gone an age without winning in Gorgie.

I’ve only been there once and we were on the end of a 2-0 defeat that saw Kevin Christie sent off. I’d had the hope that because it was my first away game of the season that it’d be rewarded with a victory. It wasn’t.

I had to wait 8 years before seeing us beat Hearts away from Fir Park and even then it wasn’t at Tynecastle. It was in the CIS Semi at Easter Road I spoke of a few weeks back. To be honest, I would happily relive that match every time against Hearts. Go 2 goals up, let them back in and then crush them with the last kick of the ball.

In recent years, Tynecastle has been a happy hunting ground, with our most recent win coming a few weeks ago, where Blackman and Sutton gave us a comfortable victory. This result was the catalyst for this blog.

This season we have performed exceptionally well away from home. Even in the Europa games, the boys created memories for all those who travelled. Even harking back to Nancy, a narrow away defeat was probably the away highlight of many Well fans supporting lives.

At this point I will state that I’ve never been to an away European game, didn’t even mange Llanelli, as I was moonlighting as a Georgian peasant for the BBC.

In the SPL, we have a cracking away record, with Randolph and the defence standing resolute. Wins at Kilmarnock, St Johnstone and Hearts, have seen Chris Humphrey come on to a game and Nick Blackman getting amongst the goals. His beauty against St Johnstone was criminally overlooked in Chick Young’s goal of the month compilation on the BBC. Maybe that was due to us turning over his beloved Buddies at Fir Park the previous Saturday.

Hopefully this run will continue and see us stretch the unbeaten away run, akin to the streaks I spoke of in last weeks blog. Unfortunately on Saturday this will be tested at an away ground where we haven’t been victorious for 13 years.

As Rangers’ fans arrived at Ibrox on May Day 1997, they were expecting to party. The script was written that a lowly Motherwell would be fodder for Rangers, as they equalled Celtic’s 9 In A Row league winning streak.

My previous visit to Ibrox had seen us win 2-0 and had me singing my 9 year old heart out all the way home. Too much shouting had seen me end up with the flu, meaning I missed out on the trip 2 years later.

Playing Fifa on the Mega Drive and listening to Super ScoreBoard, I jumped about my bedroom in equal parts amazement and frustration, at the fact we had done it again but I wasn’t there to see it. Going back in to school after the long weekend, I was beaming ear to ear at my rangers’ loving friends. They weren’t too pleased.

It didn’t take long for them to get that win and they duly did so away at Tannadice a week later, while Well escaped the dreaded relegation play offs with a draw v Partick. Since then, we have had a fair few skelpings and a few draws and narrow defeats, but haven’t registered a win in Govan.

Last year’s 2 games at Ibrox mustered up 13 goals between them, a 6-1 mauling and then the epic 3-3 draw just days after the 6-6 Hibs game. Hopefully the defence will hold up a lot better this weekend than last season and maybe we will get the rub of the green.

In recent years, we have been unable to take points off some of the worst Gers’ teams in recent history and while they have their 100% record intact, key players are missing. McGregor is serving his one match suspension after being brilliant for Scotland versus Spain. This could be the biggest loss for Rangers as he has been in great form, although Alexander is no novice.

With Jelavic missing too, the dependence will fall on Miller and Lafferty to conjour something up against Craigan and Reynolds and the rest of our back line. Hopefully the occasion will not get to the players and see our attacking players play as they have in recent weeks.

Murphy was in decent form for the Scotland Under 21s this past week, Humphrey’s improvements have been well documented in the press and Blackman will want to continue his away form. If we can stay tight at the back and expose them on the break, we should give them a real game.

It would be even more special as I will be in attendance for the first time in 15 years. Next week’s blog will write itself based on Saturday’s experience and will be a lot more interesting. Not just because it will be the first blog I’ll have written for the site as a reflection on a match, but because i will be going with my soon to be Father-In-Law.

Sat in the Rangers end.

Up The Well!!!!!

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