STUART MCCALL was quite right to say this second-leg Scottish Premiership play-off final was Motherwell's to lose.

What he could not say, but must have been thinking, was that his Rangers side did not have nearly enough winners to disprove his theory.

And so it came to pass.

Motherwell had more men, something else McCall spoke about, more determination and quite frankly far better players than Rangers who three years after liquidation remain in the mire no matter what some people will attempt to spin.

McCall will probably go, however, at least he tried his best. He can hold his head high. How many others over the last ten months can honestly say that?

In the final seconds of this wretched season of humiliation for the Rangers fans, they watched Bilel Mohsni easily one of the worst to ever wear that jersey, react to a push by Lee Erwin, who accused the Tunisian of refusing to shake his hands, by kicking and then punching Motherwell's striker.

He should be first out the door. There have been way too many Mhosni-type players on and off the park at this football club.

Over both games, Motherwell were far the better team and now they have an opportunity to move forward under owner Les Hutchison.

Strangely, given that they also had a poor season, with so many experienced players such as Stephen Pearson already pledging another year to the club, plus the fact Ian Baraclough has some good players to work with, Motherwell might be able to put this campaign down to a blip.

The enormity of the occasion had, shall we say, a detrimental effect on some of the football. It was no classic, although it was never anything other than absorbing.

Rangers, as they did last Thursday were first to settle into any sort of rhythm and at least created a few chances in the first quarter of an hour.

McCall's tactics did seem to revolve around getting the ball wide and then quickly into the box, as Shane Ferguson did after four minutes which Kris Boyd met well, even if his header was never going to trouble George Long.

Then from another Ferguson cross, Stevie Hammell did really well to hook his clearance to safety from under the nose of Kenny Miller inside the home side's six-yard box. Soon afterwards, Boyd hit the side-netting with a half volley which he should have did better with.

Rangers continued to press and on 14 minutes, following a crude Keith Lasley challenge on Ferguson, Nicky Law sent his free-kick to the back post, Stephen McManus beat Marius Zaliukas in the air, but the ball came off his shoulder which forced Long to tip over.

Motherwell, just as they did in the first leg, took their time but eventually got into the game.

On 33 minutes, Lionel Ainsworth broke down the right and his cross was just too much in front of McDonald for the Australian to score. Then two minutes later, Irwin turned inside the box, bought himself half a yard and his shot flashed across the Rangers goal.

Motherwell should have scored on 37 minutes when Johnson picked out McManus, left alone by the Rangers defence, but he put his header wide.

The Rangers players knew their chances were fading as the minutes ticked on and it was still 0-0.

Maybe this is why Haris Vuckic was booked for a dive and then Lee McCulloch took out McDonald, a foul that earned him a yellow which wasn't far from a red.

Zaliukas had a stinker of a day and should have been sent off for elbowing Pearson. To be fair to Thomson he was only six inches from the incident!

Both sides had chances before the break.

Scott McDonald laid the ball off to Marvin Johnson who took on the shot first time and the ball zipped just a few inches past. Then on the stroke of half-time, the hapless Zaliukas missed a sitter.

Ferguson sent a corner to the back post, it was missed by everyone and landed at the feet of the Lithuanian who put his shot several yards over.

The day was to get even worse for him.

Everything was settled seven minutes after the re-start. The excellent Johnson got the ball near the halfway line and charged towards the Rangers back-line, such as it was.

He sashayed his way to the edge of the box, took on a shot and the ball deflected off Zaliukas, which utterly deceived Cammy Bell who made a feeble attempt at a save.

That was that. Not everyone cheered in the main stand and a few young men were escorted as tempers frayed. It got worse when Motherwell scored their second on 70 minutes and the stewards deserve credit for calming the situation.

Those Rangers fans left the moment Lionel Ainsworth was found by Johnson cutback and he sent his shot home a shot via, of course, Zaliukas.

Rangers just wanted it to be over. Motherwell did not and their party continued right until the final seconds when Lee Wallace brought down Erwin, a penalty was awarded and John Sutton was never going to miss.

After the game, Mohsni was shown a red card as were Motherwell duo Erwin and Fraser Kerr. Those wearing claret were to happy to care. Too many in blue have never cared enough.