Date	Saturday, 20 May 2023
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Motherwell 1:0 Ross County
Venue	Fir Park
Attendance	5,289
Referee	Alan Muir
Comments	Match Report Report by Jack Herrall for the BBC. Bottom Six Motherwell 1 Ross County 0 Kevin van Veen scored in a ninth-consecutive Scottish top-flight game as his 99th minute penalty gave Motherwell a dramatic late win at home against relegation-threatened Ross County. A closely-contested game finally came to life during a dramatic 12 minutes of stoppage time. First, County substitute Owura Edwards was shown a second yellow in five minute for two cynical fouls. Then County captain Keith Watson was judged to have used his hand in the box and a VAR check handed Van Veen his chance to break the record. He was never missing. Manager Malky Mackay was left to rue that decision and one earlier in the second half when a penalty award to his side was rescinded by referee Euan Anderson after he consulted the pitch-side VAR monitor. Despite the drama, Van Veen reckons it was just "another game, another goal" as he now sets his sights on Mark Viduka's tally of 10 consecutive games scored in, from the turn of the century. "Sorry I've not idea who he is," said the Dutchman "Apologies for not knowing him, but it's amazing to stand here with scoring in nine consecutive games - it means I'm helping the team. Number 27 today so I'll just try and keep it going. "I'm going to go home, probably cuddle the missus for a bit, make some food, relax and watch Sportscene." The first big decision came five minutes into the second half. County were initially awarded a penalty when Alex Samuel was bundled over but, after a lengthy check, Anderson was called over and opted to alter his initial call. Substitute Edwards then received the second of two yellow cards in the space of five minutes, leaving Mackay incensed. And that fury was compounded when referee Anderson again consulted the monitor after Watson handled the ball, with a late spot-kick ultimately awarded to the hosts. It seemed a foregone conclusion that Van Veen would slot it home, which he did with great composure to leave Viduka's tally of scoring in 10 consecutive top-flight games in the 2000/01 season next in his sights. The first half seemed entertaining at the time but now pale's in comparison to the late theatrics. County went close through Samuel but the shot on the turn was touched wide by Liam Kelly, with two Paul McGinn efforts from outside the area testing Ross Laidlaw for the home side. Sean Goss went close in the second half and Van Veen had a effort palmed away before the game sparked into life in the 91st minute. Kettlewell spoke about consistency until the end of the season being key, despite his side's safety, and their performance suggested that message has seeped through to the players. They were fast, direct and just lacking a clinical touch as all of their forward players showed inspired touches at times to pick holes in County's defence. A special mention to Mikael Mandron. His forward play often goes unnoticed due to Van Veen's exploits but he was key today, with 100% passing accuracy into the final third. County know that they need to take as many points as possible. A draw would have lifted them out of the play-off spot due to Kilmarnock losing. They don't have time to feel sorry for themselves over the VAR calls though, with a midweek fixture fast approaching already. Yan Dhanda showed in glimpses again today that he may be crucial to their survival hopes, with their strikers not quite as effective as they'll need. Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "I thought at times in the first half we got our game going and passed and played and created a few chances, worked their keeper a couple of times. "Second half became a bit frantic, didn't it. I think it's what you want to see as a neutral at this stage of the season, it's exciting. So many incidents, penalty claims, no penalty given, sending off, all that sort of stuff. "All you can hope for at the end of it is that you come out on the right side of it, so quite clearly we're delighted with that." Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "It's rolling to the guy, he sees it, he blows for the penalty because he thought it was a stonewall penalty in his opinion, his words to me were 'I thought it was a stonewall pen'. "But he's made a mistake, he's not allowed it to lay out and that for me is unfortunate as far as we're concerned. "You kind of wonder who is refereeing games these days, who is the actual referee of games these days."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 5: Jack Baldwin, 6: Alexander Iacovitti, 10: Yan Dhanda, 14: Victor Loturi, 15: Keith Watson, 16: George Harmon, 25: Alexander Samuel, 26: Jordan White, 42: Nohan Kenneh
Bench	21: Ross Munro, 3: Ben Purrington, 7: Owura Edwards 2 1, 11: Joshua Sims, 17: Simon Murray, 22: Jordon Tillson, 30: Dylan Smith
Motherwell
Manager	Stuart Kettlewell
Starting 11	Liam Kelly, Paul McGinn, Dan Casey 1, Calum Butcher, Stephen O'Donnell, James Furlong, Sean Goss, Harrison Paton, Blair Spittal 1, Kevin van Veen 1 (1 pen), Mikael Mandron
Bench	Ricki Lamie, Bevis Mugabi, Aston Oxborough, Jack Aitchison 1, Stuart McKinstry, Dean Cornelius, Shane Blaney, Ross Tierney, Jonathan Obika'