Martin Moormann celebrates the opening goal at Fir ParkSNS

Martin Moormann opened the scoring for Motherwell

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

Motherwell took a step towards the Conference League proper with a polished first-leg victory over Havnar Boltfelag in the second round of qualifying.

Despite the departures of manager Jens Berthel Askou and key players Elijah Just and Elliot Watt this summer, the Fir Park side played with a verve similar to last season under new boss Alfred Johansson.

Having dominated possession from the outset, they deservedly hit the front when Martin Moormann thundered in a left-footed strike from distance on his club debut.

Motherwell went close to adding a second before half-time when Ibrahim Said headed against the crossbar after some lovely build-up play on the edge of the box.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first and Lukas Fadinger doubled Motherwell's advantage on 57 minutes, finding the top corner after another debutant - Mikey Booth - laid it back to the Austrian midfielder.

Fadinger's goal encouraged HB to come out of their low block, which in turn saw a flurry of chances.

Jakup Thomsen fired just wide for the visitors, while Willy Vogt was denied by HB goalkeeper Bjarti Mork when it appeared easier to score.

Home goalkeeper Alex Paulsen - on loan from Bournemouth - made a couple of sharp saves and HB thought they should have had a penalty when Hedin Hansen had his shirt pulled as he shot over the bar.

Despite those scares, Johansson's side kept their clean sheet intact in their first competitive outing of the season.

If Motherwell get the job done in the Faroe Islands next week, they will almost certainly face HJK Helsinki in the next round of qualifying after the Finnish outfit beat Coleraine 5-0 in the first leg of that tie.

Analysis: New-look Motherwell impress

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland at Fir Park

As far as first impressions go, Johansson's new-look Motherwell side made a pretty good one.

They looked brave on the ball, bright in attack and the new signings, all five of whom started the game, looked sharp.

Centre-back Moormann's goal was a belter, while Dylan Williams - whose efforts in the lead-up to Fadinger's goal were excellent - showed a lot of promise in midfield. He was constantly looking for the ball and finding pockets of space while Brazil-born forward Vogt also looked lively.

There were a few nervy moments at the back, but it is a much-changed backline and some rustiness is to be expected this early in the season.

Paulsen, despite a couple of hairy moments, looked pretty assured between the sticks in his first competitive game for the Steelmen and made a couple of decent saves in the second half.

Academy product Mikey Booth, who made his first senior appearance also impressed and there were also debuts off the bench for fellow youngsters Olly Whyte and Lucas Weir.

It was a performance and a result to spark enthusiasm and optimism among the Fir Park faithful, who would have understandably been slightly apprehensive after this summer's churn.

With the money banked by the sales of Watt and Just, one would also expect further reinforcements to be added to Johansson's squad in the days and weeks to come.

What Johansson said

Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "Coming off pre-season, we had eight players make their debuts with three academy graduates getting their first minutes.

"[HB] are European regulars and we have seen with other Scottish teams how difficult it can be when you face this type of team.

"It is two legs - this is half-time and it is going to be very difficult to go the Faroe Islands and face them on astroturf. They probably feel they got a pretty good result and [the tie] is alive.

"We could have scored at least one more, but that's football sometimes. Also, it's nice to see we have a really strong keeper who decides the outcome of the first leg with some class saves.

"It's going to be difficult next week but we go there with confidence."

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