Motherwell 1 - 0 Aberdeen: McHugh supplies cutting edge to secure spoils and heap pressure on Aberdeen

The best Aberdeen manager Craig Brown could do was to describe both sides as “solid, workmanlike and conscientious” in a match he talked up as “a stalemate”. For 85 minutes, tedium reigned at Fir Park as two sides burdened by a palpable fear of failure produced a jittery, staccato affair that only rarely looked like exploding into life. Yet just as it looked as if this forgettable encounter would definitely fizzle out into a no-score draw end, there came a glittering match-winning cameo from Motherwell substitute Bob McHugh which finally gave the home side the breakthrough that had looked like it would never come.

McHugh had only been on the pitch for ten minutes when he chased what looked like a lost cause down the right wing, sliding in on the off-chance that he could dispossess Aberdeen skipper Ricky Foster. It turned out to be a wild goose chase worth pursuing, with Foster taking a moment too long so that he was left on the turf while the ball broke free for McHugh to bear down on goal. The sub didn’t make any mistake either, turning inside the onrushing Ryan Jack and firing a low shot off his weaker left foot and inside the otherwise excellent Aberdeen keeper David Gonzalez to give Motherwell a win that, on balance, they just about deserved.

It was a close-run thing though. Both sides made a mountain of unforced errors and at times displaying a baffling lack of incision and forward drive. Motherwell were the worst offenders in this regard, and at times their endless succession of sideways and backwards passes made it look as they’d been watching too much of the Rugby World Cup.

For Aberdeen’s part, although their manager said that he wasn’t under the cosh (“pressure is playing Brazil in front of 150 million viewers or playing England at Wembley”) after a series of poor results were capped by the disastrous midweek loss to the part-timers of East Fife, his players certainly performed like a team with the world on their shoulders.

Motherwell may be lying third in the SPL, but there has been rising concern after a heavy loss at Parkhead at the beginning of September was followed by a three-goal home defeat by St Johnstone and a midweek home cup exit to struggling Hibs. There was, however, no lack of effort, which doubtless explains why the only real chances in the game fell the home side’s way.

The first of them came midway through the first half when Chris Humphrey – who started brightly but faded before being subbed – used his pace to latch on to a speculative ball down the middle. After wrestling Andrew Considine out of the road and then rounding the Aberdeen keeper with some neat footwork, he smacked the ball off the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.

The second half had barely started before another gilt-edged chance came and went, Tom Hateley’s free-kick being met by Tim Clancy, whose looping header shaved the bar and then came back off the post. Outside of that though, there was little to precious cheer about, with Jamie Murphy’s early curled shot and Darren Randolph’s fantastic first-half save from Aberdeen striker Scott Vernon’s long-range shot rare highlights.

McCall, at least, had the three points as significant consolation for a poor spectacle, but for Brown the season looks set to be a long and arduous one. “We’ve been unlucky so far, and it was the same here because we may not have deserved to win, but we didn’t deserve to lose either,” he said. But lose they did – and it looks dangerously like becoming a habit.