Motherwell 1 - 2 Celtic
By Michael Grant at Fir Park

CELTIC have an eight- point lead at the top of the championship, Rangers have four games in hand, and everyone has a growing list of grievances and conspiracy theories worthy of a separate league table of their own. Another was added to the catalogue at Fir Park when a late decision by referee Steve Conroy contributed to Celtic scoring a winner 11 minutes from the end.

A sense of perspective from the participants is going to be too much to hope for in a nervy title race between Celtic and Rangers. Conroy may as well have trapped the ball and scored the goal himself considering the heat which will come his way for getting a run-of-play decision wrong yesterday.

What he gave Celtic was a corner when a ball clearly came off Bobo Balde for a Motherwell goal kick. It was a misjudgement which helped the defending champions, but play continued and it was down to Motherwell to defend the corner. They failed: when Barry Robson crossed, no-one was attending to Celtic substitute Georgios Samaras at the back post as he stooped to score with a header.

Rangers will feel aggrieved about the incident but the immediate victims were Motherwell, who are in a race of their own with Dundee United and Hibs to finish third and qualify for the Uefa Cup.

Manager Mark McGhee was calm and measured about Conroy's mistake, although he was as angry and animated as several of his players at the time it happened. He thought there were many decisions which went against his men.

"I am absolutely adamant it wasn't a corner kick. But even though the referee made a bad decision he's not given a goal or sent someone off, he's only given a corner. We had the opportunity to defend it and we didn't. So although the referee has made a bad mistake it is the defending that has cost us. I thought a few small decisions, a tug here, a pull there, went against us today - not major decisions, but all these minor ones that undermined what we tried to do." Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was dismissive when it was put to him that Motherwell were furious about the decision, and he responded with characteristic sarcasm.

"I am still furious about the offside thing and about the penalty against us at Inverness when Celtic lost 3-2 there in December. So we're still furious ..."

It was a major win for Celtic from a patchy performance in which they struggled to assert themselves over a hard-working Motherwell. They showed character, certainly, to come back after falling behind to a 60th-minute opener when Chris Porter scored his 16th goal of the season. Brian McLean crossed from the right and Porter reacted ahead of Balde to connect with a header.

That was a test of Celtic's nerve, but their response was immediate: just 65 seconds after conceding they were level from a similar goal. Paul Hartley found Shunsuke Nakamura with a fine pass and he crossed for Scott McDonald to score with a header. It was McDonald's 30th in all competitions.

Nakamura came off a couple of minutes later, but Strachan, as ever, showered him with praise. "Naka got mugged in the first 15 minutes, there were five tackles on him. He did well to keep the heid, as they say in Scotland."

There was one moment where he reacted. Having been accidentally dumped on his backside by Marc Fitzpatrick he then raised his hands to shove David Clarkson to the ground off the ball. Nakamura's every touch was jeered by the home fans from then on because they felt he should have been sent off.

Robson was in the thick of it too, and was exchanging cross words with teammate McDonald as the players left the field at half-time until that pillar of sensible behaviour and decorum, Bob Malcolm, put a calming arm around his shoulder and led him off.

Once again the Fir Park pitch was a hindrance to passing football and the game was mediocre. "People say the game has to be played in a beautiful fashion. Well, not really," said Strachan. "People just want results. We will continue to try to play in a beautiful fashion but today it had to be about common sense football. Motherwell are a strong, strong side. You can't really play football on that pitch so they have adjusted their game to be stronger, and physically they were stronger than us for a while."

Both sides were without their captains. Paul Quinn will not play again this season after suffering a broken jaw in an alleged nightclub assault last weekend and was replaced at right-back by McLean. Celtic's Stephen McManus had a more conventional reason for being absent, succumbing to a calf injury which ruled him out after a late fitness test.

Balde came in for a rare start and provided his usual cocktail of effectiveness and amusement. One sliced clearance only sent the ball careering into the Celtic penalty box, where Gary Caldwell had to sweep up the mess, another was rammed high into the East Stand with such force there was a danger of it bursting through the roof. While Balde took McManus's place in the team, it was a surprise that Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink took his captain's armband.

The play was scrappy and inconclusive, with Motherwell impressing until half-time and Celtic emerging after the first goal. Motherwell's on-loan goalkeeper from West Brom, Luke Daniels, was making his debut and could not claim to have been overworked. Artur Boruc, too, was spared a back-breaking shift. Porter went down looking for a penalty under a Caldwell challenge, but it looked more of a dive than a foul. The goals gave the second half some drama which was a substitute for high entertainment, not that Celtic cared much.

"We hope that piles the pressure on Rangers," said McDonald. "All we can do is win every game and if we don't and we slip up then they will fully deserve their title."

It is no-one's championship yet. Conroy's twist will not be the last.