THE game was epitomised within the first 20 seconds for Dundee. One giant missed chance.
On an afternoon that may yet prove to be of great consequence as to who survives in the Ladbrokes Premiership, Neil McCann’s team had just witnessed Hamilton beating Ross County a few minutes earlier, leaving the door ajar to open up a nine-point gap between them and the Highland club occupying bottom spot and seven over Accies.
Instead, Craig Wighton’s wayward header from close range right at the start of proceedings was emblematic of what would follow in a game they would surrender to a Motherwell side whose need was far less than their own. Eventually ahead through Genseric Kusunga bundling the ball home on 24 minutes, it was a fleeting lead which lasted all of four minutes before Ryan Bowman did likewise at the other end.
By the time Cedric Kipre nodded in the winner seven minutes after the break – coming from a set piece McCann claimed should never have stood due to a handball in the build up – a familiar feeling had already set in for 904 travelling souls who, once again, witnessed their side come up short.
“Missed opportunities . . . it’s the story of our season, isn’t it?” said McCann. “However, I’m more angry – and I use the word angry because, sometimes as a manager, you ask for a decision and don’t get it. But when you hear one of this country’s top officials – who’s operated at the top level – say to the referee [Nick Walsh] “Handball! Handball!” and not only repeat it but give the signal for it and then be ignored by the referee, who’s on the opposite side of the park, it just beggars belief.
“I’ve spoken to him afterwards and he said he’s confident the ball hit [Curtis Main’s] chest. Well, I’m not sure he can be when [fourth official Willie Collum] says it is and that’s what really grinds with managers."
The afternoon was one concern after another for Dundee. Not only did they lose the game, but two of their key players. Sofien Moussa lasted just four minutes before a calf injury saw him depart, while goal hero Kusunga never recovered from taking a clatter in the chest as he bundled Steven Caulker’s header into the net for his goal. The Angolan received treatment on the park amid the celebrations and then again for 10 minutes as the teams emerged after the break.
For Motherwell, it’s difficult to fathom that this was the result that secured their Premiership safety with three games remaining given the successes they have recorded along the way this season. Their campaign really now is all about the William Hill Scottish Cup final in three weeks’ time, yet the commitment from Stephen Robinson’s team continues to be remarkable as they now sit three points clear of St Johnstone in seventh place.
“It would have taken a minor miracle for us to go down but obviously I can sleep a wee bit easier tonight,” said Robinson, who exchanged words with Dundee’s Paul McGowan at full-time as the Dens Park midfielder lost the plot. “I was only trying to pull things away. I was the peacekeeper and making sure nobody got in any kind of trouble,” said the Fir Park boss.
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