Dominant Dark Blues can’t finish what they start as Well starlet Turns the screw
Frustrated Jim McIntyre admits Dundee blew it in both boxes as the Steelmen stole the points.
The Dark Blues dominated but lacked a killer instinct.
And they were f loored by a sucker-punch when David Turnbull converted his decisive 60th-minute penalty after Ryan Inniss’ moment of madness.
The defeat stopped Dundee from climbing out of the bottom two after their stunning midweek triumph at Tynecastle hauled them off the foot of the table.
It was harsh on the Tayside club who will be leapfrogged by St Mirren if Hibs lose in Paisley today. But their gaffer has no doubts they’ll rise to safety if this performance becomes the standard.
McIntyre said: “To say it was frustrating is stating the obvious because we put so much into the game. We didn’t deserve to lose, we deserved to win.
“But we didn’t punish Motherwell in the first half when we were on top and paid the price for a bad decision in our own box. “The big man is honest enough to put his hands up because there was no need to go to ground.
“In our position we need points so you have to make better decisions and convert the pressure into points.
“But we played with energy, we battled and created chances. You have to take them though.
“So there are plenty of positives. It’s just about getting that decisionmaking a bit better. I was pleased with the performance even if we didn’t get the result we deserved.”
Motherwell, having defeated Hibs 1- 0 on Wednesday night, had to endure nightmare roadworks on their way to Tayside but eventually arrived an hour before the game to prevent kick-off being delayed.
Things were tight early on although Andy Dales, the on-loan Scunthorpe winger, saw his shot fizz past Well keeper Mark Gillespie’s far post not long after team-mate Jesse Curran was forced off injured.
Dales was constantly trying to make things happen and tried his luck again with a 20-yard effort.
But it went abysmally over the bar when he ought to have at least hit the target after the visitors gave him plenty of space to pick his spot. Dees
midfielder Martin Woods was also guilty of woeful finishing just before the break as he pounced on slack defending before his shot sailed harmlessly wide.
The absence of a kil ler touch afflicted McIntyre’s men again on the stroke of half-time.
Motherwell defender Charles Dunne was brushed aside allowing Andy Nelson a clear shot at goal – only for the former Sunderland striker to fire well past the post.
Dundee kept up the pressure at the start of the second half, Craig Curran coming close from Nathan Ralph’s corner.
But the breakthrough came at the other end as the Steelmen were gifted the lead. From a rare f lowing Motherwell attack, sub Elliott Frear was clattered by Inniss in full view of ref Willie Collum.
Turnbull stepped up to expertly send home keeper Seny Dieng the wrong way from the spot.
At last the away side started to show their qualities although Roarie Deacon brought out a fine save from Gillespie in pursuit of an equaliser.
Thr i l led Wel l boss Stephen Robinson piled praise on his players for the backs-to-the-wall show that extended their fine run and lifted them 14 points clear of the drop zone.
Robinson said: “That’s our third league win in a row which is great. It was a dif ferent performance to Wednesday night when we beat Hibs.
“We were very well organised defensively, showed real discipline and defended when we needed to.
“We had a couple of chances when we should have made better decisions higher up the pitch but I’m really pleased with the performance.
“Dundee are a tough team fighting for their lives. Jim has made a lot of changes and you can see they’re running and scrapping, making things extraordinarily hard for us.
“I’m really pleased we stood up to that. Our last three performances show what we’re capable of.”