Clarkson’s double can’t save Steelmen

Aug 14 2008 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

A DAVID Clarkson double wasn’t enough to save Motherwell from defeat in their SPL opener against Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Hearts opened the scoring in 25 minutes when Andrew Driver skipped past Paul Quinn on the left before picking out Michael Stewart, who swept the ball past Graeme Smith from 15 yards.

Minutes later, Smith had to tip a Driver shot onto the bar.

Motherwell levelled in 33 minutes when a Stevie Hammell throw-in caught Hearts off guard and Stephen Hughes nipped to the byline before squaring for Clarkson to tap in from close range.

However, Hearts regained the lead five minutes before the interval when a defensive error allowed Audrius Ksanivicius to burst into the box and slam the ball past Smith.

’Well drew level again in 81 minutes when substitute Jim O’Brien picked out Clarkson and his shot beat Steve Banks via a deflection.

However, Hearts scored what proved to be the winner less than 60 seconds later when Stewart found Saulius Mikoliunas and the Lithuanian rifled an unstoppable shot into the top right corner from 16 yards.

Motherwell: G. Smith, Quinn, Hammell, Craigan, Reynolds, Malcolm (Fitzpatrick, 53), Hughes, Lasley (O’Brien, 78), McGarry (D. Smith, 75), Porter, Clarkson. Subs (not used): Nielsen, Connolly, Slane, Murphy.