Ewan Wilson reckons Rangers fans turned on them instantly after a sloppy start at Hampden – but admits it ‘haunts’ him that Motherwell didn’t press home their advantage.
Rising star Wilson has been ever-present for Well this season and started again in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final. They led at half-time but lost out 2-1 in the end and he was hurting and lost for words after the game. Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami overturned Andy Halliday‘s opener, but there were boos from the Gers end at half-time and early in the second half before the comeback started.
A sickened Wilson said: He said: “I don’t really know how to sum it up. It was a tough one. We started well, we had them on the back foot when we scored and their fans turned on them straight away after that. Then in the second half we just stopped doing what we are good at. We need to get the ball down and play, instead of just kicking it long.
“That was what we were forced to do and it came back straight away. That haunted us. The Rangers winner came from that, we launched it, we didn’t land on the second ball and then we tried to play through a tight gap and they broke. We weren’t able to recover as we were all pressing so hard to get the equaliser.
“I don’t know if you would call nerves but we didn’t have that composure. We didn’t get it down enough. We weren’t relaxed on the ball. That is really frustrating because when we did play, we carved out some good opportunities.”
It’s been a hell of a year for the 19-year-old, one he openly describes as a ‘whirlwind.’ In March, he was recalled by Motherwell with a loan spell at Stirling Albion not going to plan. He spent the remainder of the season with Beith Juniors in the sixth tier, before returning and impressing Stuart Kettlewell in pre-season.
He could hardly have envisioned starting every game for Motherwell and becoming a bona fide first-team star by the end of the year. But here he is, and he wants to make sure that isn’t his last experience at the national stadium.
“It’s been a massive couple of months for me,” Wilson went on. “It’s been a whirlwind to come from where I was in March to now having played a Hampden semi-final. It’s something that I can take a lot from and I will look back on this as an achievement as I move forward.”
He’ll be better for the experience and he thinks his team will too. It’s onto St Johnstone at the weekend as they look to sign off for the international break on a high, and mount a real challenge for Europe. Who knows, they could be back at this stage in the Scottish Cup before the end of the season.
Maybe even one further than that? Wilson added: “I do think we will be better for the experience. I feel we can go one further and get to a final because we have a great bunch of lads here. The togetherness is great and we have that determination to keep going. This has to benefit us going forward and if we can get a chance like this again, I am sure we will do better.
“It’s a good achievement to get to a semi-final and it was great to give the fans a day out. It was a disappointing result but we will bounce back and focus on Saturday.”