Sorry Steelmen stunned in derby
Euan Robertson at Fir Park
Motherwell boss Graham Alexander revealed that Stephen O’Donnell apologised for his early red card in the 4-1 derby defeat against Hamilton Accies.
The Motherwell captain– who was standing in for the injured Declan Gallagher – was sent off after just 18 minutes for pulling back Ross Callachan and referee David Munro didn’t hesitate to brandish the red card.
Callachan stepped up to convert the penalty which effectively put the game beyond the Steelmen, who were already a goal down after Bruce Anderson’s early opener for Accies.
Marios Ogkmpoe and David Moyo piled on the misery before Mark O’Hara grabbed a consolation from the penalty spot in the second half.
But Alexander felt the decision to dismiss Wishaw native O’Donnell was harsh.
The Motherwell boss said: “We have given a penalty away and got a red card, they have given away a penalty and it is not even a yellow.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right but I do believe we can feel a bit unjustly dealt with on that.
“He [O’Donnell] apologised to me as he came off but he’s a top pro, he has been brilliant for us since I came in.”
Alexander was visibly angered by the performance of referee Munro and was sent off in the last ten minutes for remonstrating with the official.
He was booked in the first half for arguing and was furious that Munro didn’t award a free-kick when Barry Maguire appeared to be fouled on the half way line.
Alexander refused to blame the refereeing decisions for the defeat as ‘Well were poor in the first half and although they responded after the break, the game was beyond them when they went down to ten.
He said: “I have not asked him [the referee] so I don’t know. I don’t really want to go down that avenue, I think we have to hold our hands up about the result and other things outwith beyond that we can’t control, we can’t control.
“We just told them to try and win the second half and play with a bit of pride and show we have a bit of character and I think they did that to be fair.
“But playing for 45 minutes is not enough to win a game of football, it is a 90 minute game and we were short over the 90.”
Meanwhile, defender Jake Carroll insisted that Motherwell’s players are fully aware of the significance of the Lanarkshire derby .
The Northern Irishman dismissed any suggestions that they didn’t prepare properly for the encounter and stressed players know how big the clash with their near neighbours is to supporters.
He said: “I thought we were [pumped up for the game], we looked sharp and bright in the warm up. It was just sloppy goals, a red card and a penalty.
“Everything that could have went wrong, went wrong in that opening 30 minutes.
“Of course [it will be difficult for the fans to take]. I spoke last time when we were beat 3-0 and the fans need to know we are desperate to win these games.
“We know it’s a derby, we treat it as a derby and that’s why it’s more difficult to take than most games.
“They are good at what they do. I don’t know if we underestimated them or what the case was but it’s just difficult at the moment against them. We need to change it and beat them next time.”
Although ‘Well improved after the break, Carroll conceded it was impossible to recover from their disastrous start.
The 29 year-old added: “It’s a shocked dressing room, we are bitterly disappointed. We showed some fighting spirit in the second half but it was too little, too late.”