Lennon Miller was the hero for Motherwell once more as he netted a double to down St Mirren 2-1 at Fir Park.
The 18-year-old, who slotted away the profitable penalty to take Motherwell to the semi-final of the Premier Sports activities Cup final weekend, impressed them to a comeback victory with one other man-of-the-match show.
Miller transformed from the spot to cancel out Killian Phillips’ early opener and would slam house his second simply earlier than half-time to clinch all three factors for Stuart Kettlewell’s males.
There was extra drama after the break, with one purple card apiece and Mark O’Hara seeing his penalty stored out by Motherwell keeper Aston Oxborough.
The guests took the lead within the ninth minute with the primary significant assault of the match.
Phillips managed Elvis Bwomono’s supply earlier than unleashing an unstoppable half-volley into the underside nook.
St Mirren’s Killian Phillips celebrates with Mark O’Hara after opening the scoring
The Steelmen responded in constructive vogue and Moses Ebiye handed up a great likelihood when he blasted into the aspect netting from a decent angle.
Miller noticed his strike from the sting of the field deflected away for a nook a couple of minutes later, although the teenager wouldn’t have to attend lengthy earlier than hitting the web.
Referee Lloyd Wilson pointed to the spot after Marcus Fraser was adjudged to have fouled Dan Casey, and Miller calmly rolled house the ensuing kick.
Motherwell’s Lennon Miller celebrates with Moses Ebiye after scoring from the penalty spot
An entertaining contest continued to swing from end-to-end, with alternatives coming thick and quick.
Toyosi Olusanya could really feel he ought to have carried out higher when he latched on to Phillips’ by ball and lashed the ball simply huge.
On the half-hour mark, a menacing supply from Ewan Wilson needed to be clawed around the put up by Ellery Balcombe and the Buddies keeper was then labored once more as he dived low to maintain out Casey’s header.
Former Properly striker Mikael Mandron handed up a gilt-edged likelihood to revive St Mirren’s lead when he in some way steered huge after Richard Taylor headed O’Hara’s nook again throughout purpose.
Motherwell accomplished an excellent turnaround on the stroke of half-time when Miller drilled past Balcombe after seeing his preliminary strike blocked.
A protracted VAR verify for handball within the build-up would observe, although the purpose would ultimately be allowed to face.
Eight minutes of added time introduced extra drama, with Phillips coming agonisingly near grabbing his second, solely to be stored out brilliantly by Oxborough.
The group inside Fir Park had barely been ready to attract breath earlier than St Mirren have been awarded a penalty simply two minutes after the restart.
It appeared that Phillips solely needed to flip the ball into the web from shut vary however his shot was stored out by Casey, who noticed purple for deliberate handball.
O’Hara was tasked with changing from the spot, although Oxborough flew to his left to maintain the hosts’ lead intact.
There have been additional probabilities for Phillips and Taylor because the Motherwell purpose lived a charmed life, nevertheless, they’d be given a giant enhance simply after the hour mark.
A late problem by Scott Tanser on Stephen O’Donnell led to a second reserving for the defender who vented his fury on the referee and fourth official as he left the pitch.
Miller virtually accomplished his hat-trick when he glanced Wilson’s supply inches huge of the goal.
Within the last minutes, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos got here agonisingly near opening his scoring account with a header that was brilliantly saved by Balcombe.
Eight minutes of added time have been performed on the finish of the second half, although Stephen Robinson’s males have been unable to seek out an equaliser.
What the managers stated…
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell: “I’m immensely proud of the character, the personality and the battling qualities – I knew we would need that today.
“St Mirren make you defend your field and make you stand sturdy.
“I’m really happy with the players and the performance – but the application especially.”
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson: “We should have scored a lot more goals, we had a lot of chances.
“I believed our efficiency was wonderful at instances, particularly once we had 11 males on the pitch.
“I can’t affect what the decisions are, if they affected the game then that’s out of my control.
“There’s a variety of positives, I believed our efficiency was very, superb.”
