AND then there was one. A European season which is threatening to be one of the most abject Scottish football has known took another depressing turn last night when Motherwell joined Rangers and Queen of the South in falling at the first hurdle of their respective tournaments.
The Fir Park club's return to the continental stage after an absence of 13 years proved painfully short-lived as two first-half goals from Nancy abruptly brought an end to Mark McGhee's hopes of enjoying an extended Uefa Cup run in his first manager
ial experience of European football.
Celtic, whose Champions League bid has also started inauspiciously, now fly the Scottish flag on their own in a campaign which could see the country's Uefa co-efficient ranking sustain a damaging blow.
Motherwell could have few complaints about their elimination which, if anything, was even more comprehensive than the final 3-0 aggregate scoreline against them.
After all the pre-match mind games, it was Nancy coach Pablo Correa who had the last laugh as his side deservedly booked their place in next Tuesday's draw for the group stage of the competition.
While McGhee did not feel a clean sheet was imperative if his team were to overturn their first-leg deficit, the scenario he most wanted to avoid was Nancy opening the scoring at Fir Park.
Rather predictably, that was exactly what occurred, and the sense of deflation McGhee, below, feared it would bring to the match was doubled as the French side netted twice in the space of five first-half minutes to dull an atmosphere which had been both vibrant and tangibly optimistic.
Benjamin Gavanon, the former Nottingham Forest and Marseille midfielder, has a reputation as a set-piece specialist and it was his dead-ball expertise which unravelled the Motherwell defence on both occasions.
Nancy were temporarily reduced to 10 men when they made their 18th minute breakthrough, defender Joel Sami having been taken off on a stretcher after injuring himself in a frantic goalmouth scramble moments earlier which culminated in a David Clarkson header being cleared off the line by Brazilian central defender Andre Silva.
Paul Quinn was penalised for a barge on Monsef Zerka, who had been the visitors' most lively and threatening player in the opening stages.
Gavanon bent the free-kick around the Motherwell defensive wall with pace and precision, forcing a fine save from Graeme Smith, who dived to his left to parry the ball. Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, whose heroics in the first leg had restricted Nancy to a 1-0 advantage, Mark-Antoine Fortune reacted quicker than his defenders to slot the loose ball home from around eight yards.
Nancy, with Abdelsalem Ouaddou replacing the injured Sami, further tightened their grip on the tie when they stretched their aggregate lead to 3-0 five minutes later.
It was Zerka who again earned a free-kick in a threatening position for the Ligue 1 outfit, the Moroccan forward teasing a foul out of Bob Malcolm, deployed in a holding midfield role to try and subdue the counter-attacking threat of Nancy, wide on the left.
Gavanon stepped up once more and whipped in what was almost certainly intended as a curling cross for one of his team-mates.
Such was the pace and quality of the delivery, however, it eluded everyone, including Smith, and nestled in the far corner of the net.
The home supporters were stunned into silence, their team now facing the improbable challenge of scoring four times to recover the desperate position they found themselves in, while the noisy pocket of Nancy fans in a corner of the Phil O'Donnell Stand celebrated wildly and could begin to look forward to further travels in the group stage of the tournament. McGhee's European dream was disintegrating in front of him and he made a change after just 32 minutes, sacrificing Malcolm and sending on the more attack-minded teenager Jamie Murphy in a bid to spark the unlikeliest of comebacks from his team.
Chris Porter came close to providing a sliver of hope in first- half stoppage time, but his angled shot from a Stephen Hughes cross slid the wrong side of Gennaro Bracigliano's post.
If the mood of the Motherwell supporters had understandably become subdued, McGhee's players admirably stuck to a task they would realise subconsciously was almost certainly beyond them.
Their spirit was typified by Keith Lasley in central midfield, urging his team-mates forward at the start of the second half as they at least caused some genuine moments of concern in Nancy defence.
Lasley set Steven McGarry free down the left and his low cross was almost deflected into his own net by Michael Cretien, who was rescued by an instinctive save from Bracigliano at the expense of a corner.
As Motherwell committed more players into forward positions, however, they were increasingly susceptible to the pace of Nancy on the break.
Zerka should have netted his team's third of the night after being put clear by a terrific through ball from his compatriot Youssouf Hadji, but he drove his shot narrowly over.
Hughes was unfortunate to see a well-struck shot from around 25 yards dip inches over Bracigliano's crossbar, and the Nancy goalkeeper was then less than convincing when he erratically spooned a free-kick from Murphy behind for a corner.
No matter how close they came, there was an unmistakable futility about Motherwell's efforts and Nancy continually threatened to put them out of their misery with another goal.
Alfred N'Diaye ought to have delivered it but the big Nancy midfielder lazily steered a shot wide of Smith's left-hand post with only the goalkeeper to beat.
McGhee threw on strikers John Sutton and Darren Smith for Lasley and Craigan in a bid to bolster what was now simply an attempt for Motherwell to put a more respectable face on the scoreline.
PLAYER RATINGS
Graeme Smith 6/10
Might have attempted to tip Gavonon's first free-kick round the post instead of palming it back into the danger area for Nancy to get their first, but would have expected his defence to offer him more protection at the second goal.
Paul Quinn 6
Blotted his copybook with clumsy push on Zerka, needlessly giving away free-kick which led to opening goal. Needs to cut out such rash acts if he is to win the Fir Park captaincy back again.
Mark Reynolds 5
Failed to follow Fortune who had the easiest of tap-ins for Nancy's first. Didn't command his penalty box for second goal.
Stephen Craigan 5
Culpable along with central defensive partner Reynolds for giving away cheap goals. Should have attacked ball for Gavonon's fortunate effort.
Steven Hammell 7
A lively presence early on, crossing invitingly for Clarkson after 13 minutes before tracking back well at the other end. Popped up in the right places most of the evening.
Keith Lasley 6
Combatitive early on before being replaced just after an hour by Sutton.
Bob Malcolm 6
Full of spirit in the middle of the park and not a million miles away with an early free-kick. Removed for tactical reasons after 32 minutes.
Stephen Hughes 6
Never gave up but will be disappointed he couldn't provide any killer passes as Motherwell's most creative player. The passing game which lit up the SPL season, of which Hughes was the fulcrum, hasn't, sadly, been replicated in this brief European sojourn.
Steven McGarry 6
Plenty of endeavour but seldom got in behind Nancy's defence from his wide role, forcing him to come inside and battle.
Chris Porter 7
Lots of intelligent running into the channels which could have made space for chances had the passing been crisper.
David Clarkson 5
Caused alarm when getting onto an early Hammell cross but weak header was cleared for a corner. Passing got sloppy in the second half as frustration no doubt set in.
SUBSTITUTES
Jamie Murphy 6
On earlier than he would have expected, his lively running threatened to set attacks in motion however, on what was a disappointing evening for Motherwell, almost all petered out.
John Sutton 5
Given the last half hour, however as Motherwell's intended target man he needed better service.
Darren Smith 4
A late introduction for captain Craigan didn't give him any real chance to influence proceedings.
The full article contains 1400 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
