Lukas Fadinger's last-gasp winner earned first victory for Steelmen
10:13, 16 Jul 2025Updated 10:13, 16 Jul 2025
Motherwell players celebrate their late win over Peterhead in the Premier Sports Cup
Motherwell players celebrate their late win over Peterhead in the Premier Sports Cup(Image: SNS Group)
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou insists his side have come further than he expected in pre-season, as they saw off Peterhead with a last-minute winner last night.
Lukas Fadinger headed home in added time to hand Askou his first win as Motherwell boss, after Emmanuel Longelo had cancelled out Jack Brown’s shock opener.
That handed Motherwell their first win in the Premier Sports Cup group stages, having drawn 2-2 at League Two Clyde on Saturday, with the Premiership side winning the shoot-out 5-4 to take the extra point.
Askou said: “It was an important three points. I think we did really well to live up to being favourites. We tried to take control of the game from the beginning and drove the tempo up as high as we could.
“I think the boys were excellent in terms of making it really difficult for Peterhead to get something from the game.
“Obviously there were a few mistakes in the first half that we are trying to get rid of, but I think that will come. We will make less and less of these mistakes and see more quality in our attacking game.
Article continues below
“We know these players will grow and improvement will come.
“We’ve come a lot further than I expected we would at the moment, in terms of composure, structure, bravery and quality. Some of the stuff in the early build-up has been really good and I am very confident it will get better and better.”
Askou handed a debut to kid keeper Matty Connelly in place of Calum Ward, as one of six changes from the draw in Hamilton.
Skipper Paul McGinn, Tom Sparrow, Longelo, Elijah Just and Eseosa Sule also came in for Kofi Balmer, Apostolos Stamatelopolous, Stephen O’Donnell, Andy Halliday and Tawanda Maswanhise.
Teenage star Lennon Miller was once again missing amid heightened transfer rumours and Askou revealed: “He has had a little thing that we are assessing day by day. Tonight was too early still.”
Lukas Fadinger scores Motherwell's last-gasp winner against Peterhead
Lukas Fadinger scores Motherwell's last-gasp winner against Peterhead(Image: SNS Group)
The Well defence was caught napping on nine minutes as the Blue Toon took the lead.
READ MORE: Motherwell boss 'expects more new faces' but says there have been plentyREAD MORE: Lennon Miller absence 'not for a specific reason' says Motherwell boss
Brown left two defenders in his wake as he latched on to Cammy Smith’s flick to race into the box and slot past Connelly.
It could have been 2-0 10 minutes later when Peterhead cut open the Well defence again with neat play on the edge of the box, but Longelo cleared Peter Pawlett’s effort.
The former West Ham left-back was key at the other end too, smashing home Fadinger’s cross to level.
Connelly then gifted the visitors a big chance when he played a pass in between two defenders in his box.
Max Berry pounced on the loose ball and slipped in Smith, but Connelly atoned with a strong block to turn his strike behind.
Askou threw on Andy Halliday and Ewan Wilson for Longelo and Just at the break, quickly followed by Saturday’s two-goal hero Maswanhise and Stamatelopoulos.
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou was pleased with the win
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou was pleased with the win(Image: SNS Group)
The two strikers almost made an instant impact but Maswanhise’s cross just evaded the head of Stamatelopoulos.
Caleb Goldie’s point-blank block denied Slattery as Well turned the screw.
Stamatelopoulos should have done better with a header in 74 minutes and Fadinger had a volley cleared off the line as the pressure mounted.
But Fadinger wasn’t to be denied and with penalties looming, he headed the winner.
Article continues below
Askou said: “I think there is a big danger in just analysing the result and saying because we got the goal at the end, that means that we are believing in what we are doing.
“I think we could see a team that had very strong belief in each other throughout the game, no matter if we scored five goals or it had been 1-1.”