Dundee shock Motherwell 2-1 in Scottish Cup
By: Ian Rose | February 11th, 2008Motherwell Football Club continues to struggle to find its footing. It’s hard to believe that it was less than two months ago that Motherwell lost their captain, Phil O’Donnell, to a heart failure after collapsing on the pitch. Since that tragic day, the ‘Well have struggled to regain the form that saw them rise to third in the SPL table behind the Old Firm. Today, another weak performance took them out of the Scottish Cup and put in their place second-tier Dundee, who now face a very beatable Queen of the South to make an impressive semifinal appearance.
Dundee scored twice in the opening ten minutes of the second half, putting an early dagger in Well’s hopes. Darren Smith brought one back halfway through the period, but it was too little and too late for the home side. Even the ejections of Dundee’s Kevin McDonald and Gary MacKenzie was not enough to rejuvenate a sluggish Motherwell side. 9-man Dundee held them off well, and grabbed a valuable spot in the Scottish Cup round of eight.
Dundee could still conceivably do what Gretna did in 2006, when they reached the Cup final from the second tier of Scottish football, and this certainly looks to be a year when someone might do it, considering that four of the final eight sides in the cup will be from outside of the SPL, including super-longshot Second Division Ross County. More importantly to Dundee, if they can surpass Queen of the South, there will be at least some chance at a semifinal against local rivals Dundee United. That I’d love to see.
Category: Scottish Cup
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Thank God that the Cup final runner up doesn’t make Europe!
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Thank God indeed, Matt. That was a horrible policy that pretty much ensured one Scottish team out in the early qualifying of the UEFA Cup. You should never get to Europe as a reward for losing a match, and hopefully with this policy, we’ll have four strong sides in Europe next year. Aberdeen’s performance this season shows that mid-table SPL sides can compete in Europe, and I’d love to see Dons, United or Motherwell (if they can get back on track) do the same thing next season.
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Forgive me for being late in the game in response, but honestly I don’t think any of the above teams could make it past the group stages of the UEFA cup…they all seem too inconsistent. If any of them was in a period where they were doing well, maybe they could advance, but with those teams they are too off and on to make a difference and to really put stock behind. Perhaps the third place team could make into CL qualifying…dare to dream, Matt, dare to dream….
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