Motherwell 3-0 East Stirlingshire
- Published
Marvin Johnson put Motherwell ahead
Motherwell feasted on possession against East Stirlingshire but made a meal of scoring goals in their Betfred League Cup tie against the Lowland League side.
They took nearly an hour to score against a team four levels of the Scottish game below them.
Marvin Johnson thought eased their nerves, Scott McDonald headed a second.
And Chris Cadden added a late third when he slotted in Richard Tait's cut-back.
James McFadden, who once upon a time looked anything but future officer material, was making his debut as Motherwell assistant manager to replace Stephen Robinson, who moved to become manager of Oldham Athletic.
He helped oversee a stuttering performance in the summer drizzle by his team who desperately needed all three points if they had any plans to finish second in the group F behind Rangers.
It was all Motherwell from the start and Johnson - with a dazzling solo run - and Scott McDonald - with a lob - Chris Cadden, Ben Heneghan and Johnson again, could all have scored.
However, despite the relentless pressure they couldn't get the ball in the net in the first half.
It was remarkable, but the 'Shire - despite being swamped - held out and actually threatened with one shot of their own, from Derek Ure.
Fans of the home side and neutral observers would reflect that it couldn't go on like this, and neither it did.
Just eight minutes into the second half, Johnson, the outstanding player on the park, gave the Premiership side the lead with a turn and a low left foot shot from just inside the box.
McDonald added a second to calm the home support in a crowd of 2,503 and minutes before the final whistle Chris Cadden made it 3-0 against a now weary 'Shire to keep their team alive in the battle to finish second in the group.