There’s not much separating Motherwell and Hamilton geographically, although it sometimes feels like a vast ocean given those ruddy roadworks in the vicinity. There’s not much between them in the league either. It was one point and one place prior to this feisty Lanarkshire derby and it remains as you were. It perhaps shouldn’t be, of course. The name of linesman, Willie Conquer, was being cursed by the restless natives after he failed to award the hosts a goal when Ben Heneghan’s first half header appeared to cross the line before it was nodded away by Alex D’Acol. The officials were certainly in the limelight. In the second period, referee William Clancy dished out a red card to Darian MacKinnon after the Hamilton man gave the old Harvey Smith salute to the home fans. So a Conquer and a Victory V but no winner? Goal line technology, meanwhile continues to be a major talking point.
“I’m the first to say referees have the most difficult job in football, they are human beings and unless they get more help, these decisions are going to get bigger and bigger,” said the Motherwell manager, Stephen Robinson. “We are talking about livelihoods and we should have won the game 1-0. Until we give them help it’ll cost people jobs and that’s the pressure we’re under.”
A knock picked up by Louis Moult in the 1-1 draw with Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday ruled the prolific poacher out of last night’s affair. Given that he had ravaged Hamilton with a four goal salvo the last time the sides met at Fir Park back in September the visitors probably puffed out a sizeable sigh of relief when they peered at the team sheets.
Those gasps of repose continued in the sprightly opening exchanges as Motherwell ploughed forward with menace and really should have seized the lead on just five minutes. Scott McDonald saw his initial shot blocked and as the ball bobbled around in the six yard box, Ryan Bowman hoiked a follow up wide of the target with the kind of wayward hook that would’ve been out of bounds at Augusta National.
The lively hosts continued to advance with pace and purpose and gave the Hamilton back line plenty of defensive chores to deal with. A neatly engineered move on the right opened up an opportunity for Stephen Pearson but he skittered his shot harmlessly past the post.
Having been forced to perform something of a rear guard action, Hamilton began to emerge from the trenches and Craig Samson, the Motherwell keeper, had to be alert to deal with long range efforts from MacKinnon and Giannis Skondras.
It was an attempt from closer in that almost gave Motherwell the lead on the half hour but Heneghan’s header prompted controversy instead of celebrations.
That sense of injustice only served to embolden Motherwell and McDonald forced Remi Matthews into a nifty save. It was all action and Hamilton were certainly not mere bystanders. As half-time loomed, Rakish Bingham found himself with a clear sight of goal but his drive was beaten away by the diving Samson.
The resumption saw Hamilton forage forward again and Samson again had to earn his corn with a smart save from the lurking Bingham.
As proceedings roared on, things began to get a bit heated. A couple of fouls helped the temperatures to rise while a little niggle on the touchline between Dougie Imrie and the Motherwell manager stoked the fires. Mercifully it didn’t end in a punch up, which was something of an achievement for diplomacy given the recent crash, bang, wallops in the Scottish game.
The visitors were up against it when MacKinnon saw red but they dug in tenaciously to frustrate their hosts and plunder a precious point. It was lucky for MacKinnon that they did.
“It’s a real lack of experience from an experienced player,” said Hamilton manager Martin Canning of the silly sending off. “He’s matured a lot over the last few months but he’s let himself down tonight. It’s a silly mistake. He’s fortunate the boys have dug deep because at this time of the year every point is crucial.”
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