Louis Moult has confessed to a sense of déjà vu following another delightful dink at Hampden Park.
Moult, 31, took his tally for the campaign to 18 goals after latching on to a Ross Graham through-ball against Queen’s Park and lofting a clinical finish beyond the on-rushing Calum Ferrie.
It brought back memories of arguably Moult’s finest hour in Scottish football, when he produced an outrageous lob to complete his brace against Rangers and send Motherwell into the 2017 League Cup final.
Moult’s effort added to a Kai Fotheringham double and goals from Graham and Craig Sibbald as the Tangerines hammered the Spiders 5-0 to maintain their four-point lead over Raith Rovers.
“Me and Grimmy (Liam Grimshaw) were actually talking about that goal (for Motherwell) as he was in that team too,” recalled Moult.
“I think I celebrated with him last time! It was Tilly (Jordan Tillson) this time.
“It was the same type of finish if you like, and into the same goal.
“It’s always special to score at Hampden for me, it’s a great stadium.”
He added: “The first half was a little bit frustrating, as we should have been three-up in the first 20 minutes. But we didn’t give up; we kept going and I’m delighted we managed to get five goals in the end.”
Persistence pays off
Indeed, it initially looked destined to be a maddening afternoon for Moult, fresh from being named Championship player of the month for March.
At 0-0, he was denied from point-blank range by a wonderful Ferrie save, then the Spiders keeper saved his tame penalty-kick.
“I should do better with the penalty, no excuses,” said Moult. “I should score. But thankfully I kept my head up and kept believing, as the song goes!”
He added: “As a collective, we were right on it from minute go. We put them under immense pressure. We did that all the way through the game and put our chances away in the second half.”
Twenty’s plenty
And Moult is now just two goals away from hitting 20 for the first time in his senior career; a significant achievement for a player who has been plagued by hellish injury problems over the last few years.
However, the Englishman is adamant promotion is all that matters.
“I’m not counting – honest, I’m just trying to score every opportunity I get,” he added. “It’s all about us, as a whole and as a football club, trying to get to where we want to be. We’ll keep taking it game by game.”
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