Motherwell took a point in windy Hamilton and returned to third place in the league table. It was a hard won draw made all the more impressive as Accies had a one man advantage for the majority of the game.
The key moment came ten minutes before the break when Chris Long gave his team-mates extra work as he left the field having collected a second yellow card. He had just returned to action after an injury lay off and now he will miss the midweek meeting with St Mirren.
Hamilton had their best spell of the game in the run up to half time but Stephen Robinson reconfigured his ten men at the interval. Motherwell switched to a 4-3-2 shape and competed well.
There were four changes to the visiting eleven. Richard Tait, Declan Gallagher, Mark O’Hara and Chris Long were the additions. We lined up with a Peter Hartley, Liam Donnelly and Gallagher forming a solid back three.
We survived an early scare when Ogkmpoe was clean through but Mark Gillespie showed his worth yet again with a fine block. We had to wait a while for action in the other goalmouth until Liam Polworth had a pop from 25 yards.
Long’s dismissal had us on the back foot but strong defence triumphed. After the break Hamilton should have scored when Moyo headed over the bar from point blank range. He clattered the post and needed attention.
Ross MacIver came on for Tony Watt before Jermaine Hylton arrived to add some sparkle. The winger won a free kick and Polworth’s delivery found Gallagher with space at the far post but a block forced a corner.
There were a couple of late opportunities to win the game. Polworth and Hylton could have sent the travelling fans home with three points but in the end we had to settle for a hard won point.
Results elsewhere did us no harm and we look forward to the visit of St Mirren on Tuesday.
Hamilton 0 Motherwell 0
Team: Gillespie, OHara, Gallagher, Hartley, Tait, Donnelly, Campbell, Polworth, Aarons (Hylton 77), Long, Watt (MacIver 67)
Attendance 2,531 (1,182)
Saturday 22 February 2020