HAMILTON goalkeeper Gary Woods is convinced that dodgy refereeing calls from Nick Walsh cost his side a valuable point in the Lanarkshire derby.

With the score locked at a goal apiece and with the clock heading towards the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s game, Walsh awarded Motherwell a free-kick for a Mickel Miller foul on Liam Grimshaw, with Accies players feeling their forward had been fouled first.

To compound their grievance, Woods then felt he was unfairly impeded by Peter Hartley as he contested David Turnbull’s delivery into the area, with the ball falling loose for Tom Aldred to grab the winner and his second goal of the game.

“I’ve seen it again,” Woods said. “[The referee] gave one for a lot less in the first half. The ball has come in and [Hartley]’s not even looking at it. He’s just ran straight into me.

“For me, I feel it was a foul, but obviously he didn’t give it. It’s a sucker blow that no one is picking up Aldred for the second time. We’ve conceded two goals from set plays.

“I think 99 percent of the time you are going to get that decision. Especially as he’s given the one in the first half.

“He’s just run straight into me. At the time I thought it was a foul and I still think it’s a foul.

“Leading up to the goal, I think Mickel gets pushed in the back, he then gets dispossessed and they score from there.”

Woods hasn’t given up hope of catching Motherwell following the defeat, but admits that Hamilton’s top priority once they return to action after the winter break will be to ensure they finish above Dundee and St Mirren.

“They’ve moved seven points ahead of us,” he said. “Had we drawn they’d still be within touching distance, but they’ve now moved that bit away from us. The break now comes at a bad time.

“This was a chance to put some distance between ourselves and the clubs at the bottom. Motherwell had a lot of injuries, we had some. So, you wouldn’t say either were full strength sides. That’s what you’ve got a squad of players for.

“First half we were good but in the second we just didn’t really turn up again.”

The poor form of the two sides below Hamilton – who also lost on Saturday – has given Accies something of a reprieve after their miserable run of recent form, but Woods says that they have to take responsibility for their own destiny if they are to pull clear of the relegation battle.

“We just can’t keep relying on everyone else’s results all the time,” he said. “That’s something that’s got to change.

“We’ve got to take control of our own performances, pick up points and not worry about them.

“Us and the other two keep losing but at some point that’s going to change and someone will pick up points. That needs to be us.

“Motherwell may be seven points ahead but there are a lot of games still to play. I don’t think they are far enough away to say they are done, but they’ve got a lot more daylight than we have right now.

“We’d rather be in their position than ours.”