THEY had waited three-and-a-half years to see who would claim the bragging rights in Lanarkshire.

Then another 120 minutes and penalties on top of that.

At the end of a League Cup tie that started slowly but warmed up as the temperatures dropped it was Hamilton Academical who eventually emerged victorious. Their reward is a quarter-final tie against Aberdeen at Pittodrie and the title of kings of the county for the next three days at which point these two local rivals - separated geographically by just three miles - will do it all again in the league at Fir Park.

It will do well to match the drama of what unfolded last night. It took penalty kicks to eventually find a winner. Even then the teams matched each other stride for stride, the first five players from each side converting their kicks with some aplomb. Simon Ramsden, Motherwell's first taker in sudden death, then had his shot saved by Michael McGovern.

That left the way open for Craig Watson, the 19-year-old midfielder, who kept his nerve to score. The raucous celebrations that followed were a sign of what it meant to both players and supporters. "I told the players just to be confident and not to worry if they missed because after all they had given me during that game they would not have been letting me down," said Alex Neil, Hamilton's player-manager. "Young Craig Watson was one of the guys to put his hands up and that just shows the confidence of the lad at 19 years old."

Hamilton prevailed despite playing a large chunk of the second half and all of extra-time with just 10 men after full-back Stephen Hendrie was sent off for a second booking. Motherwell, too, finished the game a man down. Mark O'Brien, the defender on loan from Derby County, had been booked in the tunnel at half-time for a crunching tackle right before the whistle. That would come back to haunt him in the first period of extra-time when he was penalised for impeding Ali Crawford.

He could only watch on helplessly as Hamilton held their nerve in the shoot-out. "The second yellow card for Mark is an absolute joke," lamented Stuart McCall, the Motherwell manager. "It's barely a foul and if that's a yellow card I'm a Dutchman. You always think referees look to even things up and that decision swung the balance of the game."

It was, eventually, a tumultuous affair. As derbies go, the Lanarkshire edition is unlikely to ever be mistaken for Boca Juniors versus River Plate - those two behemoths of Buenos Aires football - but there was plenty here to occupy fanatic and neutral alike.

It was particularly frenetic at the junction of the Main Stand, where the more exuberant of the Hamilton support gather, and the corresponding corner of the away stand where flares were lit and missiles thrown amid other boisterous scenes. Several members of the local constabulary gathered to keep a close watch, while the football authorities may also be of a mind to retrospectively take an interest in events as well.

The two young teams in the crowd were matched by the one named by Hamilton to play in the match. From the side which drew 0-0 with Kilmarnock on Saturday, Neil reduced the average age even further by benching Jason Scotland and Dougie Imrie and starting in their place Louis Longridge, 23, and 18-year-old Eamonn Brophy, begging the question whether they should all be out this late on a school night. None seemed fazed by the occasion or sense of responsibility, especially in the shoot-out.

Most of the early chances were of the speculative kind, with Crawford looking most likely to break the deadlock. One shot, following Tony Andreu's pass, was blocked, while a second from distance drifted just wide of goal. When Dan Twardzik was finally called into action, it was to haul in Longridge's impressive turn and thud that seemed to be soaring into the top corner. Motherwell's sole response of note before half-time was a John Sutton header from a corner that drifted harmlessly over.

Motherwell had already begun to look more dangerous on the counter attack - they had a penalty appeal for handball dismissed - by the time Hendrie was shown a second yellow card after 66 minutes for obstructing Ainsworth's progress down the wing. Momentum swung behind the visitors as they finally began to create meaningful goalscoring chances. Sutton slid an effort just wide from a corner, before McGovern threw up his hands to keep out Iain Vigurs' blast from close range.

Motherwell continued to knock on the door in extra time. Jack Leitch fizzed a shot just before Josh Law powered one against the crossbar and Ainsworth then scudded the rebound against a post. They would regret those misses when Hamilton went on to prevail in the shoot-out.