Hamilton Accies Women should have won Motherwell derby clash, says boss as late penalty proves costly

Gutted Gary Doctor says his Hamilton Accies Women threw away the chance of a vital victory over Motherwell after failing to put the Women of Steel to the sword on derby day.

Accies took the lead through Josi Giard midway through the first-half but their failure to bury a number of “glorious chances” came back to bite them, as their rivals hit back through Kaela McDonald-Nguah after 53 minutes and then Carla Boyce netted a last-minute penalty to earn a 2-1 win.

It leaves Accies second-bottom of the table and a point away from rivals Aberdeen in the safety of 10th place in SWPL1 and Doctor said: “It certainly felt like three points thrown away.

“We had the lead at half-time and felt in good shape. Just after half-time we have a glorious chance to go 2-0 up and then they equalise a few minutes later.

“We are still well in the game at that point and before they score the winner we have another glorious chance, don’t take it and that’s the difference.

“Both their goals have come from our errors. It’s a really poor penalty we have given away and that’s what has ultimately cost us. And that’s why it feels like points dropped.

“A point is the very least we should have been walking away with, but I’ve said that a few times this season.”

On the penalty, which Lucy Sinclair conceded, Doctor added: “It was poor defending, a poor challenge from the wrong side at the wrong angle. The tackle probably didn’t need to be made to be honest, it’s just a bit of panic.

“We’ve not actually lost a game that late this season. We’ve always been competitive and more often chasing games right until the end and I think this is the first time we’ve lost a game in the final 15 minutes.

“That is a huge frustration for us, that we usually finish games