Motherwell threatened a shock cup win over Rangers before eventually succumbing to a defeat.
The Steelmen put so much into it and had a first-half lead through Andy Halliday but even as they continued to do their best to keep Gers at bay, they conceded goals to Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami.
After defending stoically, Well took the lead with their first shot on goal. Tawanda Maswanhise latched onto a ball over the top and teed up Steve Seddon for a brilliant cross which allowed Halliday to capitalise on awful defending from Jefte.
They survived a great chance for Cyriel Dessers soon after and kept their lead for the half-time break.
Motherwell started brightly and full of energy again but they did concede an equaliser on 49 minutes. Dessers made up for his earlier misdemeanors by peeling off his man to tuck away Connor Barron’s pull back.
Stuart Kettlewell’s side were then desperately unlucky to concede on 80 minutes when the ball was worked to Bajrami on the left side of the box and he did well to find a way through.
In the end, it’s Rangers instead of Motherwell who will contest the Premier Sports Cup final with Celtic.
Motherwell player ratings vs Motherwell
Aston Oxborough 7 – Called into action a few times and the pick of the punch was a save from Jefte at his near post.
Dan Casey 7 – Celebrated a block on Bajrami and that epitomised his performance as he put his body on the line.
Liam Gordon 7 – Won a lot in the air and on the deck in a solid back three.
Kofi Balmer 7 – Like his defensive mates, stood up tall to everything and made blocks and tackles.
Marvin Kaleta 7 – Made a number of interventions and interceptions and used his pace and energy to get forward too.
Andy Halliday 8 – Great desire to get on the end of Seddon’s cross and open the scoring. It was the icing on the cake of a brilliant midfielder performance.
Ewan Wilson 7 – Has impressed at wing-back but now playing in the middle of midfield and impressed. Worked hard alongside Halliday to limit Rangers.
Steve Seddon 7 – Delicious cross for Halliday’s goal and that wasn’t the only time the wing-back was a threat with his delivery from the wide area. Subbed after picking up a booking.
Lennon Miller 8 – The classy youngster led his team out at Hampden which is in itself a sign of where he is right now. Showed his ability throughout too,.
Tawanda Maswanhise 8 – A real livewire and a threat as Motherwell looked constantly looked to use his pace to get in behind, and that’s where the first goal originated from.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos 7 – A tireless shift up front as he led the line. Maybe didn’t get a lot of joy from it directly himself but acted as a facilitator for his teammates.
Tom Sparrow 5 – Worked hard but struggled to find an end product.
Jair Tavares 4 – Pace was a potential threat but again couldn’t do much with it
Zach Robinson 4 – On to replace Stamatelopoulos as the lone striker.
Shane Blaney 3 – Replaced the impressive Kaleta.