Motherwell v Hibernian (5 May 2010)

Motherwell 6–6 Hibernian
Event 2009–10 Scottish Premier League
Date 5 May 2010
Venue Fir Park, Motherwell
Referee Willie Collum
Attendance 6,241

The Scottish Premier League match between Motherwell and Hibernian on 5 May 2010 set a record as the highest scoring match in the league's history.[1] The match was played at Fir Park in Motherwell on 5 May 2010. Twelve goals were scored in the match, leaving a final scoreline of a 6–6 draw. Hibernian had led the match 4–1 and 6–2 at different points; Hibs goalkeeper Graeme Smith also saved a penalty kick from Ross Forbes when the score was 6–5.[1]

Match

Background

The match was the 37th and penultimate game of the 2009–10 league season for both Motherwell and Hibs, with both clubs chasing fourth place in the Scottish Premier League and with it qualification for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League competition.[2] Going into the match, Motherwell were one point ahead of Hibs, but were faced with a more difficult fixture in their final game, being due to play Rangers at Ibrox.[2] Therefore, a win for Motherwell would clinch fourth place, a win for Hibs would make them strong favourites for the position, while a draw would leave Motherwell with a one-point advantage, but with a slightly worse goal difference.[2]

As the match was being televised by Sky Sports and was being played in midweek, Motherwell specially reduced the admission prices to ensure a good attendance.[2] Due to that television coverage, the match had been originally scheduled for the evening of 6 May, the same day as the 2010 general election.[3] Motherwell complained to the league about this scheduling, citing the proximity of a polling station to their home ground of Fir Park.[3] The league upheld this complaint and moved the match forward 24 hours to Wednesday, 5 May.[3]

Summary

Hibs raced into a 4–1 lead in the first half, largely thanks to a hat-trick by Colin Nish.[1] Giles Coke had equalised for Motherwell after Nish opened the scoring, but had then gifted Hibs their third goal, scored by Derek Riordan.[1] Motherwell did pull a goal back before half-time through John Sutton, but two goals by Anthony Stokes after the restart seemingly put the game beyond doubt at 6–2.[2] Within 15 minutes, however, Motherwell had reduced the deficit to 6–5, thanks to a simple tap-in by Coke, a Tom Hateley free kick and a Sutton header from close range.[1] Substitute Ross Forbes then had the chance to equalise from a penalty kick with three minutes left, but it was saved by Graeme Smith, who had conceded the penalty in the first place.[1] Forbes had taken the penalty despite the fact that Lukas Jutkiewicz was the nominated penalty taker; Jutkiewicz had deferred to Forbes as he was fresher, having only come on less than 10 minutes previously.[2] In the third minute of injury time, Jutkiewicz produced a remarkable effort to score the equaliser, a goal that his manager Craig Brown compared to Marco van Basten's goal in the 1988 European Championship Final.[2]

Details

5 May 2010
19:45 BST
Motherwell 6 – 6 Hibernian
Coke  16', 67'
Sutton  39', 76'
Hateley  72'
Jutkiewicz  90+3'
BBC Sport report Nish  11', 20', 36'
Riordan  28'
Stokes  56', 65'
Fir Park, Motherwell
Attendance: 6,241
Referee: Willie Collum
MOTHERWELL:
GK 21 England John Ruddy
RB 43 Scotland Steven Saunders  69'
CB 5 Northern Ireland Stephen Craigan
CB 4 Scotland Mark Reynolds
LB 3 Scotland Steven Hammell
RM 15 Scotland Jamie Murphy  69'
CM 24 England Tom Hateley  80'
CM 6 England Giles Coke
LM 17 Republic of Ireland Jim O'Brien
CF 11 England John Sutton
CF 9 England Lukas Jutkiewicz
Substitutes:
GK 1 Scotland Michael Fraser
DF 28 England Shaun Hutchinson
MF 7 England Chris Humphrey  69'
MF 16 Scotland Marc Fitzpatrick
MF 18 New Zealand Michael McGlinchey  69'
FW 27 Scotland Ross Forbes  80'
FW 35 Scotland Robert McHugh
Manager:
Scotland Craig Brown
HIBERNIAN:
GK 21 Scotland Graeme Smith
RB 15 France Steven Thicot
CB 4 England Chris Hogg
CB 20 Scotland Paul Hanlon
LB 6 Scotland Ian Murray
RM 24 Scotland David Wotherspoon
CM 33 Republic of Ireland Liam Miller
CM 11 Scotland John Rankin
LM 10 Scotland Derek Riordan  70'
CF 9 Scotland Colin Nish
CF 18 Republic of Ireland Anthony Stokes  88'
Substitutes:
GK 50 Democratic Republic of the Congo Yves Makabu-Makalambay
DF 25 Scotland Darren McCormack
MF 8 Republic of Ireland Patrick Cregg
MF 16 Scotland Lewis Stevenson
MF 17 Scotland Kevin McBride  70'
FW 19 Morocco Abdessalam Benjelloun  88'
FW 28 Scotland Alan Gow
Manager:
Scotland John Hughes

Post-match reaction

"I was quite calm throughout. I was very pleased with the response from the players when they went behind. I said to them that the worst thing in any sport is a losing lead. We were behind at half time, and I said if we pull Hibs back they would have a fit of the jitters, and that's how it transpired."

"I think it is self-explanatory, everyone will say we cannot defend. I felt my strikers stopped working. And that is where you start defending from. They stopped looking after the ball and it brought Motherwell on top of us. We sat too deep."

Aftermath

The result left Motherwell one point ahead of Hibs with just one game to play.[2] In their final game, Motherwell produced another remarkable comeback to salvage a 3–3 draw against Rangers, despite having been 3–1 behind entering injury time.[5] This comeback was insufficient to hold onto fourth place, however, as Hibs won their game 2–0 against Dundee United.[6] Colin Nish scored both goals, giving him five goals in the final two games of the season.[6] This win allowed Hibs to leapfrog Motherwell by a point and to qualify for the UEFA Europa League.[6]

The result of the 2010 Scottish Cup Final, with the already-qualified Dundee United beating First Division club Ross County, meant that Motherwell also qualified for Europe, however.[7] The cup final result also benefitted Hibs, as they entered the competition one round later than if Ross County had won.[8]

After signing for Hibs the following month, Edwin de Graaf cited the match as one of the reasons he had chosen to do so.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Conaghan, Martin (5 May 2010). "Motherwell 6–6 Hibernian". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 MacDonald, Hugh (5 May 2010). "Cheaper by the dozen: history made as Jutkiewicz volley keeps Motherwell in the European driving seat". The Herald. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 "Motherwell’s clash with Hibernian rescheduled due to general election". STV Group. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  4. "Motherwell manager Craig Brown amazed with 12-goal draw". BBC Sport. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  5. "Rangers 3-3 Motherwell: Thrilling comeback secures draw for Motherwell". www.scotsman.com. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Hardie, David (9 May 2010). "Hibs 2-0 Dundee United: Nish double secures Euro spot". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  7. Johnson, Phil (16 May 2010). "Motherwell qualify for Europe". The Scotsman. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  8. Marshall, Alan (19 May 2010). "Hibs ace John Rankin relishing thought of facing Liverpool or Juventus in Europa League". Daily Record. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  9. Martin, Robert (16 June 2010). "I watched as Hibees let in 6 and knew this was the team for me". The Scottish Sun (News International). Retrieved 16 June 2010.

External links

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