The unforgiving streets of Maryhill are a far cry from the dark alleys of Gotham City, but this encounter between Partick Thistle and Motherwell was a tale of heroes and villains on a grey day in Glasgow.

That was particularly the case for the out-of-towners here who, on the back of a 4-2 thrashing of local rivals Hamilton Accies the previous, went from the ridiculous to the sublime over a 90-minute performance that at one stage bordered on calamitous before a 1-1 draw was rescued.

That shock moment came after 32 minutes as the normally-steadfast Stevie Hammell suffered a mental lapse and played an easy ball across his own box for the alert Chris Erskine to intercept and slot into the bottom corner. It seemed destined to be the flashpoint that would cost Motherwell dearly in this game against the team that started the day bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership.

In the end it was hero Scott McDonald who popped up seven minutes from time to head the visitors level after the villainous assistant referee Alan Mulvanny incorrectly flagged for offside 20 minutes earlier as McDonald nodded into the net from a Ben Heneghan header back across goal.

When asked if his late goal made up for the earlier non-award, the striker said: "No, it never does. It's earlier in the game and the game changes.

"We've looked at it and I'm not offside one bit, it's crazy. I know I'm on his side but he's got the six-yard box to look it, it's incredible. These things happen.

"At the time I didn't make much of it, I just said to Craig [Thomson, the referee] 'That's the wrong decision'. I may have stared at the linesman after that, but you just get on with it and try to keep going. Thankfully we got our rewards."

Hammell’s cock-up wasn’t much of a game changer but a game ratifier during an out-of-sorts performance from Motherwell. McGhee revealed afterwards that Louis Moult, his four-goal superhero last week, had missed training all week after treading on his toddler’s toy. That’s a new one. While it accounts for the below-par showing from the former Stoke City man, questions still remain over the slow start by the rest of his team-mates that almost cost them dearly.

“We were poor in the first half and never really got going," said McGhee. "We weren't connected or have the team performance of late.

"We lost a really disappointing goal, Hammy doesn't make those kind of mistakes so we can forgive him for that. The second half was much better."

Motherwell’s late rally could easily have seen them win the game as Ryan Bowman’s header was tipped away and a Chris Cadden shot skittered just wide, but in truth Thistle should have been well out of sight by the time the claret and amber cavalry turned up.

While Erskine’s goal was the only real incident of note, Thistle forward Ade Azeez was the man in red and yellow causing the most frustration to the home crowd as he twice failed to hit the target when free in the box within the space of a couple of minutes. On top of that, David Amoo fired straight at Samson from close range, Danny Devine did likewise from six yards out and Ryan Edwards scudded the post from 35 yards.

In the end a point was enough to take Thistle off bottom on goal difference – at least until this afternoon when Hamilton host St Johnstone – but Alan Archibald was rightly pleased with the majority of what he saw here. A midfield debut for former Portsmouth man Adam Barton was a particular highlight, while the attacking play – minus the finishing – of Azeez gives hope that the false position of the Partick Thistle manager’s team will be corrected through time.

"We controlled the first half, very pleased with it and we created chances, but at the moment we look as if we need to score two goals to win a game," conceded Archibald. "It's very frustrating."