Ya Bezzer!

Goalkeeper and the back four were tremendous but Craigan gets it for a great captains display. You could see he wanted to win this as much as anyone in the ground. This reaction at the third goal was a classic. Steven Saunders was laughing his head off! It was a tough night for the midfielders with us sitting so deep for most of the night and I thought only really Jennings gave an above average display. Sutton took his goal well but he was either isolated or out of position for a lot of the match due to us being pressed back. Murphy was excellent again although I though he looked absolutely done from about 60 minutes on and I was surprised he stayed on - just as well he did!

Shot stopping is the easier part of goalkeeping. I thought Randolph was excellent tonight, very encouraging.

Craigy Broon Special. Score early, defend, defend, defend, break away goal at the end. I was a bit disappointed by the defend, defend, defend part because I thought we made it harder for ourselves than it should have been but at the final whistle all was forgiven. The goalkeeper and back four were immense and Craigan's reaction to the third goal will live long in the memory. Randolph :8: Superb display, not many shots to save but took ever cross and high ball with completely confidence. Saunders :7: Still a bit 'unpredictable' on occasion but overall did really well cos the the guy in front of him can't defend! Craigan :8: Man of the match performance. 6'8 Man hardly won a header, Craigan had him in his pocket, oh and up yours Gannon. Reynolds :8: Another excellent defensive display and made some crucial headers and clearances. Hammell :8: Solid display again at left back, looks focused, fit and sharp. Humphry :6: Started quite well in the initial stages but reverted to type later. Jennings :7: The best of the midfielders tonight, good steady performance. Lasley :6: Not his best tonight, tried hard but was sloppy in possession. Hateley :6: Like a few others as we feel deeper and deeper he felll out of the game. Sutton :6: Excellent goal but the flow of the match didn't suit him. Murphy :7: Must have a ran a marathon tonight, was knackered after about 60 minutes but still set up the last goal. Page :3: Not much time to make an impact but he did scoring the easiest goal he'll ever get. Forbes :1: Hardly got a touch Fitzpatrick :2: Fightin' Fitzpatrick!

I've had a pretty amazing day today - can it get any better or will the joy/misery equilibrium be restored? I think we will rue that late penalty, extra time looms. Of course I hope I am wrong and we wrap this up in the first 10 minutes but my experience of being 'Well fan doesn't point me in that direction.

Typical Motherwell! Did anyone think we would hold out for a win? Still, a good result and if we fail to get through it will because of the home leg, not the away one.

Always preferred Oracle.

This is fucking murder. I'd go take the dog for a long walk but I don't have one.

Good luck paying players in eyes.

It would be if that was the total cost. More likely the whole package, with transfer fee, signing on fee, wages and bonuses plus other costs, would have been at least £500k and probably more.

Gannon had funds, Brown doesn't. Simple as that.

If you exclude Rangers and Celtic, the Tippeligaen is probably as good as the SPL, if not slightly better overall. Aalesund are currently fourth with 18 matches played so perhaps you could expect them to be a similar standard as Hearts or St. Johnstone normally but perhaps under the circumstances (they are in mid season we are just starting) it would be more the equivalent of a Hibs or Dundee Utd. We'd probably expect to beat those teams at home, less so away. I think it will be a tight affair, probably about 50/50 and it could come down to a wee bit of luck.

Does that mean Humphrey won't lining up against Aalesund?

6 against Rangers but also 6 in two matches against Steaua, 2 against St. Johnstone, 3 against St. Mirren, and goals conceded to Flamurtari and Kilmarnock.

Hutchinson has 8 starts in which we've conceded 19 goals and only kept 1 clean sheet. I've been impressed with him but are we all thinking about 2 maybe 3 games and forgetting about the rest?

He's a good prospect but he's not going to oust Craigan or Reynolds from the team and a guy like Steven Saunders is a couple of seasons ahead of him in terms of first team experience. He might just have to sit tight for a while. I reckon if Lasley or Jennings were injured it might be worth trying out in a midfield role, he's good on the ball and is a goal threat and not just at set pieces.

Rob Jones on an emergency loan deal!

We are a better team than Breidablik and deserved, just about, to go through. I never expected us to thrash them 4, 5 or 6 nil because Icelandic football isn't so bad but two wins was a decent performance from the team considering our level of fitness. No offense to Bliki but I'm pretty sure if we'd played them in November or December we would have doubled our aggregate score.

Their goalie has been quite good, catches the crosses comfortably and that was a good save.

Turn the flood lights on!

For the record our European scorers are 5 - Stevie KIRK, Jamie MURPHY 4 - Ross FORBES 2 - Alex BURNS, John SUTTON 1 - Dougie ARNOTT, Tommy COYNE, Nick CUSACK, Billy DAVIES, Shaun HUTCHINSON, Paul McGRILLEN, Bob McHUGH, Shaun McSKIMMING, Paul SLANE

Working on Safari.

Joint top with Stevie Kirk, I think. EDIT. Yep, Kirk scored 2 against GKS Katowice and 3 against HB.

Murphy! I was waiting for that to be disallowed for some reason. Hopefully we can go in at the break 1-0 up now and get some confidence from that goal.

Where is Forbes playing? Out left or behind the strikers?

Yeah, running through the opposition with the ball. Shitebag in the tackle? I'll bet he won more fouls than any other player in recent times, when O'Brien was getting kicked, elbowed, pulled, hauled down and chopped you were probably stuffing a pie in your face.