Motherwell 3-1 Alloa Athletic: Blair Spittal double sees off League 1 side
- Published
Georgie Gent fired in a crucial goal to put Motherwell back ahead and ease fears of an upset
Blair Spittal's double ensured Motherwell survived a scare against League 1 side Alloa Athletic in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
Spittal gave the Premiership side the lead after 90 seconds, before Conor Sammon threatened to haunt his old side when he curled in an equaliser.
Motherwell retook the lead on the hour mark through Georgie Gent, before Spittal curled in a beautiful free-kick to ensure safe passage to the last 16.
It could have been a hat-trick for Spittal, but former Motherwell keeper PJ Morrison produced a fine save to deny him from the spot.
Fans were still taking their seats when Spittal's curled opener bounced over the line and spun back out. There was no VAR, but referee John Beaton didn't need it as he correctly awarded the goal.
The hosts dominated the play, an the opening goalscorer went lose on two more occasions before the visitors found a shock equaliser.
Sammon, who spent the 2018/19 season on loan at Fir Park, found room on the right, cut in on his left past Calum Butcher, and curled low into the bottom corner past Liam Kelly.
Andy Graham's side started the second half the brighter, and Kelly was forced into a good save to deny Quinn Coulson.
But Motherwell soon showed a slightly more clinical edge when Gent beat his man on the edge of the box and drilled past the keeper.
It should have been three after Spittal saw his penalty saved, but he made amends from 25 yards out when he curled into the top corner.
That strike took the wind out of Alloa and they failed to respond, putting Motherwell safely into Sunday's last 16 draw.
What they said
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "We always look round the country, look at the upsets, and we sure as heck didn't want to be one of those clubs.
"We scored three really good goals, but there are certainly aspects that need to be sharpened up. There's stages in the game where there was nervous energy in the stadium. That's down to ourselves."
Alloa Athletic manager Andy Graham: "We lost a goal so early and it would have been easy for the boys to crumble, to go into half-time two or three goals down. We didn't, our response was good and we deserved to equalise.
"We're disappointed to lose. We came with a game plan to win and the boys had full belief, but Motherwell stepped it up in the last 25 minutes and their quality showed."