Motherwell 1 Kilmarnock 0 (AET): Instant reaction to burning issues

Moses Ebiye’s header in extra-time was enough to settle the game following Stuart Findlay's earlier red card.

Kilmarnock exited the Premier Sports Cup at the last-16 stage after a narrow 1-0 defeat at Fir Park.

Moses Ebiye’s header in extra time was enough to settle the score as Motherwell booked their slot in the last-eight.

Here’s our instant reaction to the key issues from the game…

Wait for another Hampden trip goes on

The players fought valiantly, but unfortunately, the wait for another day out to the national stadium will need to wait for another year at least when the Scottish Cup comes around. The cup record under Derek McInnes has been par for the course with three quarter-finals and a semi-final under his watch. Killie couldn’t make it past the last-16 at Fir Park though, with the team looking dead on their feet after 120 minutes in Lanarkshire. Kitted out in their slick away strip, Killie carved out plenty of opportunities to score towards the end through Kyle Vassell, Brad Lyons and Liam Donnelly, but couldn’t quite do enough to get the all-important equaliser to force penalties.

Lack of discipline from another experienced pro

Another game, another red card. Much like last week with Joe Wright against St Johnstone, Stuart Findlay was given his marching orders for two bookable offences. Neither call by Nick Walsh could be argued despite the ever-reliable defender’s initial protestations as his errors turned out to be crucial in Killie’s downfall. The first came not long before half-time as Zach Robinson got the better of Findlay after getting goal side from a channel ball by Paul McGinn. The centre-back had coped well with every ball down the left until that point, but the striker prevailed on that occasion and a yellow was brandished. The next came on 49 minutes as Killie were reduced to 10 with plenty of the game remaining. The ball broke kindly to McGinn on the right wing. Findlay rushed into the tackle, which looked badly mistimed, and he was sent off. An early shower for Findlay ahead of Thursday night in Denmark, with his suspension due to be served in the next League Cup fixture he’s eligible for. His teammates did well to cope for so long with a man down as McInnes used five subs in one go to freshen things up. Findlay is a Killie cult hero, but he’ll know himself that he let the side down here. Had it stayed 11 vs 11 then Killie would’ve strongly fancied their chances of winning given they competed so well with 10.