STEVE CLARKE, modest to the last.
Sitting in the Fir Park press room after his side claimed a 1-0 victory over Motherwell to go into the top six, courtesy of a Stephen O’Donnell daisy cutter, the rather reserved Ayrshireman came out with one comment that seemed to leap out amid an afternoon which won’t live long in the memory of most.
“Since I came, it’s probably just been a coincidence, but things have gone better,” he said.
Well, you could say that.
The Rugby Park club won their first Premiership game of the season when Clarke watched on from the stand back in October ahead of taking charge. This was their ninth and third in a row that keeps them looking up rather than down.
It wasn’t quite a smash and grab at Fir Park. To say that would suggest Jamie MacDonald was pulling off save after save, when to be honest only one stop from a Tom Aldred header in the second half was about it in between the odd comfortable catch. Even then the flag was quickly up.
But after going ahead on 34 minutes Kilmarnock’s attacking race was pretty much run. And what a hit it was. O’Donnell was afforded far too much room in the middle of the par after intercepting a errant Curtis Main pass. One touch was all he needed to set himself and the thumping low right-footer which followed whizzed along the turf and in at Trevor Carson’s right-hand post.
“Stephen’s been very good for us, said Clarke. "I actually got a phone call at 9 this morning from my physio saying that Stephen had been sick overnight. We’d also lost Aaron Tshibola overnight through sickness.
“Stephen was still willing to come in and give it a try which was to his credit.
“It was a good performance from him and a terrific goal. You don’t see too many cleanly struck daisy-cutters like that one. But it was right in the corner.
“The players are feeling good about themselves, although Motherwell will feel aggrieved they haven’t got anything out of the game.”
The goal came at a point when Motherwell appeared in control and had gone close themselves, particularly when Kirk Broadfoot diverted Chris Cadden’s cross off his own post from five yards out when the game stood at 0-0.
However, for all Motherwell’s possession and pressure you always had the feeling it would be one of those days. Thirteen shots and 13 attempts were fired off but only four found the mark.
The result sees Kilmarnock leapfrog Motherwell into the top six, and Fir Park manager Stephen Robinson couldn’t hide his frustration at his team’s inability to capitalise on their control.
“We had large amounts of possession and we put 30 crosses into the box but somebody has to get on the end of them,” he said. “Our decision-making in the final third wasn’t good enough at times – we had four or five opportunities to put someone through in one v one situations and chose the wrong option.”
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