Baraclough frustrated by refereeing ‘mistakes’
MOTHERWELL manager Ian Baraclough last night claimed mistakes from referee Bobby Madden and assistant Graham Chambers had been as costly for his side as the unforced errors made by his own players.
While accepting the better team had won at Firhill, he argued that TV replays suggested both Partick Thistle goals ought to have been disallowed for offside. He is refusing to press the panic button after a defeat which leaves his side three points adrift of safety, having played a game more than third-bottom Ross County.
‘Both goals were offside which wasn’t picked up by too many people, including our own players,’ he said.
‘The second one is a yard off and the first one is tighter. We’ve looked at it and Taylor is certainly ahead of us.
‘You hope to get a bit of help from the officials but if they haven’t seen that, it’s fine. We weren’t good enough in the second half to win.
‘In the first half we were dominant and played most of the game in their half, without getting the goal we deserved.
‘But in the second we couldn’t get it going and they asked more questions of us. We couldn’t get a foothold in the game.’
Thistle boss Alan Archibald was, unsurprisingly, in a happier frame of mind, and said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted. It wasn’t much of a spectacle in the first half but we were the better team after that and we deserved the victory.
‘At the interval I just told our lads to keep defending the way they had been because I thought we were outstanding at the back.
‘But I also wanted us to get the ball down and play. The boys were moaning about the pitch, saying it was horrific. It was the same for both teams and the wind didn’t help — there wasn’t a lot of football being played.
‘However, once we got our goal and got our creative players on the ball, you could see the difference between the teams.’
Lyle Taylor’s goals doubled his tally since rejoining Thistle on loan and were the first time he had found the net for them since February.
‘Scoring two goals from about a yard out — any striker would settle for that,’ he grinned.