Burchill eclipses the McFadden promise

Motherwell 1 Dundee

Mark Burchill and James McFadden will share the same stage again next weekend, albeit 24 hours apart, and the Scottish Cup semi-finals will be enriched by their presence in the two ties being staged at Hampden Park next week.

Burchill, who is on loan at Dundee from Portsmouth, is maturing into a fine goalscorer, as he showed yesterday, but he can offer a stern lesson to his teenage Motherwell counterpart of what happens when a career is advanced too soon.

The Scotland manager, Berti Vogts, is studiously holding back McFadden, whom he capped a year ago. At 19, Burchill was a cult hero at Celtic and playing against England in the Euro 2000 play-offs, but yesterday his third goal in three games illustrated a man eager to restore his reputation.

Motherwell's manager, Terry Butcher, insists that he will choose Premier League survival over a place in the Scottish Cup final for his young side. However, the former England player knows he may get neither. His club, who have now spent a year in administration, are rooted to the bottom of the table, though Saturday's semi-final against Rangers at Hampden Park offers the prospect of a shock, as they have already beaten Alex McLeish's team this season.

When Motherwell last went to Hampden – they won the Cup in 1991 – Butcher was captain of Rangers. His sort of commanding presence was absent from his team's defence when it was torn apart after 75 seconds. Scott Leitch gave the ball away to Burchill, who fired a pass out to Steven Milne on the left and then dashed to the near post, where he buried a diving header.

Butcher's team were mugged again in the 24th minute. Again, they gave the ball away, with Steven Hammell supplying Fabian Caballero. The Argentinian threaded a sublime pass into the path of Milne, who steered a right-foot shot beyond the goalkeeper François Dubourdeau and in off a post.

At this stage, little had been seen of McFadden. He finally conjured up some wonderful footwork in the 10 minutes before half-time, then exchanged passes with Keith Lasley, before thrashing a shot that was smothered by the goalkeeper Julian Speroni.

That roused Motherwell. McFadden clubbed an effort from 30 yards that Speroni dealt with spectacularly. The 19-year-old refused to be denied, and he offered Motherwell a lifeline in the 77th minute when Martyn Corrigan's long ball was flicked on by Craig and McFadden pounced to stab it past Speroni. Richard Offiong then had a delicate chip cleared off the line, but the equaliser refused to come.

Motherwell 1
McFadden 77

Dundee 2
Burchill 2, Milne 24

Half-time: 0-2 Attendance: 4,693