Kiltie double drags Killie off the bottom as Motherwell slump continues

Greg Kiltie scored twice to lift Kilmarnock off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership as they beat Motherwell 3-2 at Rugby Park, condemning the Steelmen to a fifth straight league defeat. It was also Killie’s first home league win of the season.
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The afternoon could hardly have started better for Neil McCann’s side. With barely a minute played, Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen misplaced a short pass into midfield and Kiltie eventually converted after some frantic defending. Moments later Martin Moorman was dispossessed inside his own half, but Joe Hugill dragged his shot wide.
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Motherwell steadied themselves and drew level in the 17th minute. Lukas Fadinger released Emmanuel Longelo down the left, and after Calum Ferrie saved from Seb Palmer-Houlden, Alex Lowry calmly fired the rebound into the bottom corner.
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From there the visitors dominated the first half. Maswanshise struck the post from 25 yards and Ibrahim Said forced a sharp save from Ferrie, prompting McCann to reshuffle early. He sent on Jamie Brandon for on-loan Hearts right-back MJ Kamson-Kamara after 33 minutes to counter Longelo and Said, and then lost Bailey Rice to injury, with Aaron Tshibola replacing him.
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Kilmarnock finished the half more strongly, with Paulsen denying Tyreece John-Jules and an unmarked Tom Lowery volleying over.
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The hosts were spared a major setback early in the second half. Referee Calum Scott showed George Stanger a red card for a high boot on Lowery, but VAR intervened and the sanction was reduced to a yellow after a review at the monitor.
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Motherwell went ahead on 56 minutes. Ferrie blocked Palmer-Houlden at close range from Said’s low cross, but the ball deflected in off the striker.
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The lead lasted just two minutes. Brandon headed a half-cleared corner back into the box and John-Jules finished emphatically, though Motherwell felt two of their defenders had been shoved off the ball.

Brandon was the architect again for the winner. On 69 minutes, Kiltie arrived centrally to sweep home left-footed from Brandon’s headed pass, with VAR confirming the goal.

Paulsen kept his side alive with saves from substitute Ieuan Owen and Hugill, and Ferrie denied Johnny Koutroumbis deep in stoppage time to preserve the three points.

McCann praised the togetherness of a squad he said had taken time to gel, describing his side’s second-half display as “absolutely brilliant”.

Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson was left exasperated. He felt his side reacted well to the early error and controlled much of the first half, but said they failed to handle Kilmarnock’s long balls, lost too many second balls and gave possession away too cheaply before conceding. He added that his team could not expect to score three away from home every week and needed to be far more solid defensively.

The result leaves Kilmarnock level on points with Motherwell, with Hibernian dropping to the bottom after losing to Falkirk at Easter Road. Motherwell now sit alongside Killie in the bottom three, a point clear of Hibs.

Motherwell host Hearts next, while Kilmarnock travel to Dens Park to face Dundee on 28 October.