Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Kilmarnock Standard

Kilmarnock 4 Motherwell 1 as Tommy Wright bags first win as boss

Didn't they do 'Well!

That was the general consensus of all those privileged to watch arguably Kilmarnock's best performance of a disappointing season.

It was a display of guts, hard work and skill from those players in blue and white shirts, determined to get the win that would give them a great chance of retaining their Premiership status.

And at the centre of it all was the towering figure of Kyle Lafferty, the striker that has kick-started the Rugby Park side's fight against relegation.

It was the Northern Irishman who got his side off to the best possible start with barely a minute on the clock.

His shot from distance was as powerful as it was unexpected, catching out visiting goalkeeper Liam Kelly who was beaten all ends up.

The joy was short-lived, however, for within seven minutes the Lanarkshire side were back on level terms, Barry Maguire steering the ball into the net after Colin Doyle's clearance from a Jordan Roberts header fell fortuitously at the midfielder's feet.

Killie almost regained the lead in 11 minutes when Brandon Haunstrup ventured into the Motherwell box and lashed the ball of the woodwork from a tight angle.

The remainder of the first half was pretty even, although Doyle had a couple of decent stops to keep the game level.

In between, Lafferty tried another shot from distance but the ball flew high over the Motherwell goal.

Chris Burke celebrates his goal (SNS Group)

On the restart the home side wasted little time in taking control of the game, moving into the lead again in 54 minutes through Rory McKenzie.

Motherwell's defence made a hash of dealing with another Lafferty shot, and the alert McKenzie produced a lovely touch and good control to nip in and net from close range.

Two minutes later Killie's lead was doubled when Chris Burke latched on to Mitch Pinnock's cross at the back post to fire the ball into the roof of the net.

Play became a bit scrappy for a while, with the visitors causing a slight scare when Roberts shot wide when he should have done better.

But Killie weren't quite done, and soon the action was back at the other end as the home side struck with their fourth goal of the game.

Lafferty was again the provider as he picked out Pinnock deep in the Motherwell half.

The 26-year-old winger deftly flicked the ball over the head of marker Tyler Magloire and through the legs of the helpless Kelly to round off a terrific afternoon for the home side.

While Lafferty grabbed the headlines for his goal and two assists, this was a tremendous team performance by Killie that gave manager Tommy Wright his first win since arriving at the club.

More of the same when the post-break fixtures get underway should be enough to guarantee Killie's Premiership survival hopes.

Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.