Date	Saturday, 03 August 2024
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Motherwell 0:0 Ross County
Venue	Fir Park
Attendance	4,353
Referee	John Beaton
Comments	Match Report Report by Andrew Petrie for the BBC. Motherwell 0 Ross County 0 Motherwell and Ross County could not be split on the opening day of the new season as they registered a goalless draw at Fir Park. The hosts had a handful of opportunities, but either missed the target or found themselves foiled by goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw. Academy graduate Ewan Wilson came closest to scoring a winner five minutes from time, but his rasping drive was tipped away by Laidlaw. County were in good spirits pre-match, still riding the wave of winning the relegation play-off in May, but struggled to create much of note and would have been the happier side with a point. It took 20 minutes for a chance to arrive, but when it came it should have ended in a goal. Zach Robinson robbed Will Nightingale near the halfway line, but shot wide when one-on-one. The hosts tested the keeper with the next chance. A nicely chipped ball found Wilson, who cut back to Moses Ebiye, but his close-range effort was superbly stopped by Laidlaw. Motherwell almost found the breakthrough when Andy Halliday’s corner was lifted into the air at the front post, wrong-footing Laidlaw, and then prodded on to the back post by Dan Casey. County had to wait until the hour mark for their best chance, when summer signing Ronan Hale curled a free-kick round the wall but his shot was pushed past the post by Aston Oxborough. Motherwell still seemed to be more confident. Some incredible footwork from Robinson created a chance for Wilson down the left. The ball eventually came back to Robinson, but he could not get his shot on target in his final act before being substituted. Jordan White perhaps should have scored against his former club. Victor Loturi dinked a delightful ball in that found the striker peeling off his marker, but he could only glance a header over the bar. Late on, left-back Wilson almost crowned his league debut with a winning goal. The ball broke well to him on the edge of the box and he sent a sliced half-volley towards the top corner, but Laidlaw produced a brilliant one-handed diving save. Stuart Kettlewell was not a happy man last weekend when his side drew with Patrick Thistle in the League Cup - and he was quite right. His side struggled to create that day, so there was a slight improvement, although they failed to finish their chances. Of the 12 shots, only three were on target. In recent years, Kevin van Veen or recently departed Theo Bair would have buried those. New striker Apostolos Stamatelopolous has big boots to fill and Kettlewell will be hoping he is soon fit enough to start. The shape of both sides - 3-5-2 - meant it was hard to create much space, but it was certainly County who looked least likely to score. The visitors struggled to get the ball down and play, looking a little timid when they got their foot on it. As a result, White and Hale up top barely had scraps to feed on. That said, they battled well and Laidlaw kept them in the game, leaving them with the opportunity to steal all three points late on - but Will Nightingale blazed his chance over. As usual, there has been a big turnover in the County squad over the summer. They need to gel quickly if they are to avoid another relegation-threatened season. Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "I would love to be standing here with three points. The opportunities created and saves made by Ross Laidlaw suggest we did deserve to win the game. Ross County boss Don Cowie: "It was a difficult game, every inch a first game of the season, a little erratic at times. Overall, delighted to come away with a point and a clean sheet."
Ross County
Manager	Don Cowie
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: James Brown, 3: Ryan Leak, 4: Akil Wright, 7: Victor Loturi, 16: George Harmon, 9: Ronan Hale, 14: Jack Grieves, 16: George Harmon, 26: Jordan White 1, 35: Will Nightingale 1
Bench	22: Jack Hamilton, 10: Noah Chilvers, 15: Aiden Denholm, 21: Charlie Telfer, 24: Michee Efete, 25: Alexander Samuel, 27: Eamonn Brophy, 33: Andrew MacLeod, 43: Josh Reid
Motherwell
Manager	Stuart Kettlewell
Starting 11	Aston Oxborough, Laim Gordon, Dan Casey, Shane Blaney, Stephen O'Donnell, Davor Zdravkovski, Andrew Halliday, Ewan Wilson, Zach Robinson, Ebiye Moses, Lennon Miller
Bench	Kristjan Hegyi, Steve Seddon, Kofi Balmer, Tom Sparrow, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Paul McGinn, Ross Callachan, Marvin Kaleta, Dylan Wells