WHEN it comes to conspiracy theories, Scottish football is a breeding ground for those who have been wronged and are reaching for a sinister explanation. Most of the time the finger pointing generally involves the man in the middle with a whistle poised between his pursed lips, invariably awarding some sort of a decision based on factors from his personal allegiance to his soft spot for giving Arbroath the odd penalty because he’s known to be partial to a good fish supper.

Having said that, the Motherwell players would have been more than justified at letting their hearts sink this week upon hearing the news Craig Thomson was to be the official in charge of yesterday’s match against Celtic. After all, he is the referee who has sent off four of them this season – the only four Premiership players he’s flashed a red card at – including Cedric Kipre in a contentious yet pivotal penalty call in this season’s Betfred Cup final with Celtic. By the time he took his tally to five yesterday as the French defender once again walked for another dubious call, those associated with the Fir Park club couldn’t be blamed for thinking what they’d done to upset Mr Thomson to such a degree.

The red card of Kipre on 41 minutes was crucial in this match with Celtic, but not necessarily the way it would have been initially feared by the home support. It stemmed from a coming together of the Motherwell defender and Celtic captain Scott Brown in the middle of the park, with the latter pushing out at Kipre with as the two lay entwined on the deck. In retaliation, the centre-half flicked his leg in the direction of Brown’s calf, causing him to crumple to a heap. By the time he’d come to a halt, Thomson’s red card was in the air and Kipre was heading for an early bath. While you could argue his naivety to react forced the referee into making a decision, it was nevertheless a harsh one.

Frustration reportedly boiled over in the tunnel between Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson and Brown but his team re-emerged in the second half galvanised by a burning sense of injustice as the 10 men of Motherwell defended for their lives. It delivered a 0-0 draw which keeps their flickering hopes of a top-six place alive as they trail sixth-placed Hearts by six points with a game in hand, while Celtic edge further away in first as the chasm between Brendan Rodgers’ team and that of Graeme Murty opens to 10 points with a game to spare. If Motherwell had kept their 11 men, it may have delivered even more.

This wasn’t Celtic’s finest afternoon, but they will come away from Fir Park wondering just how three points weren’t accompanying them given the understandable swathes of possession they enjoyed with a man advantage, not to mention the near misses in front of Trevor Carson’s besieged goal. However, they were thwarted more than once by the Northern Irish keeper, his cross bar, and a gaggle of defenders hell bent on taking something from this game.

It was Motherwell who started the brightest as a Celtic back three of Dedryck Boyata, Kris Ajer and Jack Hendry looked vulnerable against the domineering figure of Curtis Main with Ryan Bowman in support. That was evident after just 13 minutes when Elliott Frear’s cross saw Main bully Boyata six yards out, earning him the right for a header which Scott Bain did well to get down to parry at his left side. Main would sting the palms of the Celtic goalkeeper soon after with a thunderous free-kick from 30 yards out.

Tom Rogic and James Forrest were Celtic’s two brightest lights as Motherwell grew stronger in the first half and when Forrest broke clear on the right on the half hour, the ground held its breath as he cut back inside on his left to blaze a shot that Carson did well to arm away for a corner.

The red card then caused chaos on the field and in the stands, with Motherwell shifting to a 4-4-1 in the second half to protect what they had and hit on the break. They did it with courage and the odd bit of luck.

Nine minutes after the break Carl McHugh was caught dithering by Rogic bursting forward. Again the Northern Irishman did enough to turn it wide. The Australian would go close again just moments later thanks to a Callum McGregor corner, but Carson pulled off a great save to deny him from 10 yards.

Moussa Dembele then had a shot blocked by the impressive Tom Aldred on the hour, this then triggering the arrival of Scott Sinclair and Stuart Armstrong from the Celtic bench. Forrest and Dembele both went close from inside the area again before Patrick Roberts was then added to the mix. The Manchester City loanee came agonisingly close to opening the scoring on 82 minutes after cutting in from the left, only to be denied by the bar as his curling left footer from 25 yards skipped over.

As the clock ticked down the pressure on Motherwell ramped up, Armstrong going within the odd inch with a bending right-footed shot from the edge of the area. The scrambling Carson hinted at just how near it was.

Yet with 90 minutes on the clock went even closer. At the other end, Curtis Main collapsed to the turf in the box under the challenge of Hendry with no award. Within seconds, a quick counter saw Sinclair race through on goal with just Carson to beat. The winger burst into the box before delaying the shot, this hesitation affording Tait an extra second to come across to produce a point-saving block that send the ball spinning out of touch.