SPL from the archives: Motherwell 5-6 Aberdeen

Two matches in the history of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League have produced 11 goals or more and both have come at Fir Park - the first of them on October 20, 1999.

This was a simply astonishing game. Billy Davies watched his Motherwell side score five times yet end up losers. John Spence claimed a hat-trick but that wasn’t enough to spare Well from defeat as Ebbe Skovdahl’s Dons claimed their first win of the season.

Aberdeen’s success was all the more remarkable when you consider that they had lost their first seven league games – failing to score in six of them – picked up a point against Hibernian then suffered a 7-0 mauling by Celtic just four days before the trip to Lanarkshire.

Yet they prevailed thanks to a hat-trick from Robbie Winters and goals from Andy Dow, Eoin Jess and Paul Bernard. Spencer’s treble plus counters from Don Goodman and Shaun Teale provided Motherwell’s haul in front of 5,009 fans. How ironic that two of Scotland’s best goalkeepers of the modern era – Andy Goram and Jim Leighton – were on the receiving end.

Motherwell recovered superbly to win six of their next seven games – including home and away wins over Celtic – but Aberdeen didn’t manage another success on the road until February and would finish the season bottom of the table despite reaching two cup finals. They were spared relegation as the SPL was being expanded to 12 clubs.