McGhee: Not pretty to watch April 26 2008
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee admitted the Fir Park pitch led to some "shambolic" football during their 2-2 draw with fellow UEFA Cup hopefuls Dundee United.
A bumpy surface and a strong wind left flowing football largely off the menu for a lunchtime television audience.
Every goal came from a header as Chris Porter's double was cancelled out late in each half, first by Stephen Craigan's own goal and then Lee Wilkie's scrambled header.
McGhee said: "It was bordering on shambolic at times, it was a poor, poor game.
"Steven Hammell at times looked like a poor player, simply because he couldn't get the ball under control on that surface."
However, McGhee was more annoyed with the defending at the long throw that led to Wilkie's 86th-minute leveller.
He said: "We didn't lose the game but it feels like we lost the game because of the poor, poor defending at the second goal.
"We weren't on the front foot. I have said to Graeme Smith and questioned what he had in his mind. Whether he was waiting for a shot or whether he was thinking 'can I help my back four by coming for the ball?'
"There might be too many people in his way but was he set to come and catch it? We all had to be a bit more aggressive in our defending."
However, McGhee was not despondent about the draw, which keeps the Steelmen a point above the Terrors with two games in hand.
"We have still got Hibs to play, which is really important, it kept Dundee United behind us," he said.
"It might be that we have to go to Easter Road and beat them, but that's fine, the prize is worth having to do that.
"I'm happy with the result, just a little bit bewildered by the performance."
United boss Craig Levein admitted both sets of players could have done little better on the pitch, which will be ripped up in the summer.
He said: "Crisp passing is difficult when the wind is swirling and the ball bouncing all over the place. We both resorted to playing longer balls than usual. I think both teams did as well as they could.
"It feels like a good draw, I can't quite say it feels like a victory," he added.
"I think a draw was probably a fair result. If we had lost it would have been very difficult for us to get third place. But we will keep plugging away - we are hard to shake off."