Motherwell 3 - 2 Hearts

It seemed the Fir Park team had the game sewn up after a first-half goal from Stephen Craigan and a penalty 12 minutes from time by Richie Foran.

Hearts sent the game into extra-time with two goals in the last five minutes through Mark Burchill and Halmar Thorarinsson before Marc Fitzpatrick's left foot shot gave Motherwell the victory they deserved in the 120th minute.

While Hearts had exerted lots of early pressure they never looked like scoring. They had also found Gordon Marshall in inspired form. The goalkeeper pulled off a string of great saves with Salius Mikoliunas and Joe Hamill wondering what it would take to beat him.

In the end it took a poacher's goal from new signing Burchill five minutes from time to give Hearts hope. Even that looked a bit of a long shot considering it had taken them 85 minutes to puncture the Motherwell defence.

They had pummelled Marshall's goal for most of the second half but never looked like they would manage to take the game into extra time. The fact they did was down to a scrambled goal from Icelandic substitute Thorarinsson who bundled the ball home in the last minute.

It was a lucky break for Hearts who had struggled for long periods in front of goal. They have Paul Hartley, their midfield playmarker to thank, for getting them to extra-time.

After missing out on a move to Celtic, he motored up and down the pitch and it was his promptings and never give up attitude which helped Hearts back into the match.

To even have the game taken to extra-time was a cruel blow for Motherwell. They took the lead when a defensive error from Steven Pressley let in Craigan to score with a header.

Foran's penalty, which occured after Jamie McAllister brought down Scott McDonald put them two up and at that stage they had one foot in the final. Burchill brought his side back into the game but the turning point was just round the corner. David Clarkson had all the time in the world to make it 3-1 and that would have effectively killed the game.

Instead the youngster skied his shot over the bar from just six yards and Hearts nipped up the other end to equalise.

The relief on the Hearts bench was clear to see. They had realised they had gotten out of jail and should never have been given the chance to take the game into extra time.

John Robertson, the Hearts coach, never threw in the towel and at times played four players up front. There has been much cynicism surrounding the CIS Insurance Cup but the joy on the faces of the Motherwell fans at the end showed how much it meant to them.

Both teams served up a rousing cup-tie with the supporters from both sides emerging with credit. Taking the semi-final tie to Hampden would have been a mistake and moving the tie to Easter Road worked well.

Terry Butcher had complained about the switch before kick off but his team didn't suffer from playing the tie in Edinburgh. They performed with aplomb and looked the fitter of the two outfits.

They chased for everything and Craigan had a great game at the back. In contrast Pressley had one of his worst games for Hearts and in the first half performed way below his best. Defeat was a cruel blow for Hearts but both teams served up a cracking cup tie. Sadly that will be no consolation to the losers.

Motherwell (4-4-2) Marshall; Corrigan, Craigan, Partridge, Hammell; McBride, Leitch, O'Donnell, Paterson; McDonald, Foran. Subs: Clarkson, Quinn, Fitzpatrick, Fagan, Corr

Hearts (4-4-2) Gordon; Neilson, Pressley, Webster, McAllister; Mikoliunas, McFarlane, Hartley, Hamill; Miller, Wyness. Subs: Berra, Simmons, Thorarinsson, Burchill, Moilanen

Referee D McDonald

Taken from the Herald