Motherwell held 0-0 by Accies after officials deem Heneghan header wasn't over the line

Motherwell were held to a 0-0 draw by local rivals Hamilton Accies at Fir Park on Wednesday night, in a Lanarkshire derby with vital significance in the battle for Scottish Premiership survival.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Apr 2017, 22:41 BST
Updated 9th May 2017, 20:21 BST
Motherwell players watch as Ben Heneghan's first half header is launched towards goal. Although the ball seemed to cross the Accies line, no goal was given.Motherwell players watch as Ben Heneghan's first half header is launched towards goal. Although the ball seemed to cross the Accies line, no goal was given.
Motherwell players watch as Ben Heneghan's first half header is launched towards goal. Although the ball seemed to cross the Accies line, no goal was given.

A huge moment of controversy after 31 minutes saw Ben Heneghan's powerful header from an Elliott Frear cleared away from the Accies goal - but video replays later showed the ball had crossed the line.Earlier on, the hosts had wasted a great fifth minute chance when Ryan Bowman shot wide from close range after a Frear corner had been nodded down by Heneghan and an initial Scott McDonald shot was saved.Stephen Pearson then shot well wide with his left foot foot after Bowman's cross from the right, before 'Well keeper Craig Samson was called into action for the first time to stop a Darian MacKinnon snapshot.An Alex D'acol effort just missed the right hand post before Heneghan's aforementioned effort. Motherwell players' appeals for a goal were turned away by the officials.The Steelmen then had a narrow escape when Samson had to save a Rakish Bingham shot after a misplaced Carl McHugh pass had been pounced upon by Ali Crawford.The second half in truth was a disappointment, with the first chance coming when 'Well's Jacob Blyth headed a Frear cross wide at the back post.Blyth was soon replaced by debutant Shea Gordon before Frear sent a left footed volley just off target.The game's second major moment of controversy came on 74 minutes when Accies Darian MacKinnon was sent off after gesturing towards the home support.McHugh later headed substitute Lionel Ainsworth's corner well wide before an Ainsworth free-kick saw Heneghan's header deflected for a corner.An 86th minute Accies break then saw D'acol find Donati whose weak shot was straight at Samson.But the game ended goalless, keeping Motherwell and Accies 10th and 11th respectively in the table.Motherwell: Samson, Hammell, Heneghan, McHugh, Bowman, Cadden, Frear (Ainsworth 72), Blyth (Gordon 62), Clay (Lasley 54), McDonald, Pearson.Hamilton: Matthews, Skondras, Devlin, Imrie, Docherty, D'acol, Crawford (Donati 76), Bingham (Redmond 62), MacKinnon, McMann, Sarris.Crowd: 4644Referee: Kevin Clancy

Related topics:Elliott FrearFir ParkScottish Premiership