RICHARD TAIT has leapt to the defence of Motherwell veteran Stevie Hammell after his blunder almost cost his team at Firhill.

The normally reliable left-back suffered a rare lapse on Saturday as his pass across the face of his own goal resulted in Chris Erskine nipping in to open the scoring for Partick Thistle.

It was an out-of-character moment for the 34-year-old who has racked up well over 400 appearances for the Steelmen.

Fellow full-back Tait has every sympathy for his team-mate and, after Scott McDonald’s late header salvaged a draw, stressed that he has the full support of his team-mates following a nightmare afternoon in Maryhill.

“These things happen,” said Tait. “Hammy’s been here for a long, long time and he’s been consistently good week-in and week-out.

“Everyone makes a mistake from time to time so we’ll just crack on with it.

“I had a pass back of my own in the first half which slowed down quite a bit on that surface and my heart was pumping but Sammy came out and saved the day so I’m grateful to him.

“The first half was difficult for us but we came back after the break and showed what we’re all about.”

In what was a frustrating afternoon for the thousand or so Motherwell fans that made the short trip to Glasgow on a drizzly Saturday afternoon, they would have been pleased with the character shown their team to grind out a result that for long spells looked beyond them.

Part of that turn in fortune was down to the delivery into the Partick Thistle box, particularly in the second period that had the hosts rattled.

A Keith Lasley free-kick to Ben Heneghan and across the face of goal for McDonald to head in appeared to pull Well level only for the assistant referee to incorrectly flag for offside midway through the second half.

But it was Tait’s looping left-foot cross seven minutes from time that made the difference as the wee Aussie once again got on the end of the ball to glance a header beyond Ryan Scully.

The Scottish former Grimsby Town full-back was happy to see his hard work in training pay off. He was also delighted to see Motherwell get what he thought was a deserved point from a game they, in his words, were the better team in.

“We’ve been working on crosses like that all week so it’s pleasing when they work out during the game,” he said.

“I thought we were the better team by quite a way. Sammy’s [Craig Samson] made a few good saves but, looking at what we did on the ball and the chances we created, I thought we played well.

“Other teams will always have chances but if we can scramble it like we did today and put some passes together going forward, we should be fine.

“But Scott always puts himself in the right areas. He’s a top pro who’s played at the highest level and he knows where the goal is so one disappointment won’t deter him from getting in there again.

“Faddy and Scotty are great for the boys who play in those positions because they can learn from them every day.”