Kilmarnock were left frustrated by Motherwell as they were held to a goalless draw at Rugby Park in the William Hill Premiership.
It was far from a classic but the Ayrshire side deserved all three points as they dominated their opponents.
Kilmarnock had 16 shots, 14 corners and a goal ruled out – correctly – but they could not find a way past a resolute Motherwell defence.
Derek McInnes’ men could have entered the top six with a victory, but remained ninth with Motherwell holding on for a point to consolidate their place in fifth.
Kilmarnock spurned a gilt-edged opportunity to open the scoring after just three minutes when Marley Watkins miscued from 10 yards from Fraser Murray’s clever cut-back.
The hosts continued their bright start and Corrie Ndaba’s drilled cross was almost skewed into his own net by Liam Gordon.
From the resulting corner, Aston Oxborough produced a remarkable reflex save to claw away Joe Wright’s goalbound effort before Ewan Wilson hooked the ball off the line.
After weathering an early storm, Motherwell grew into the game and Tony Watt forced Robby McCrorie into a comfortable low save in the 24th minute after good work from Tawanda Maswanhise.
Killie thought they had broken the deadlock just three minutes later when Brad Lyons stabbed home after an excellent run from Murray but it was ruled offside after a VAR review.
Brad Lyons thought he had given Killie the lead, but he was adjudged to have been offside after a VAR review
There was more frustration for Kilmarnock minutes later when referee Don Robertson waved away their penalty appeals for handball against Kofi Balmer and the VAR officials agreed.
Kilmarnock had more than 70 per cent possession in the first half and they came agonisingly close to eventually getting the goal their performance deserved on the stroke of half-time when Lyons’ header rebounded off the bar.
It was an uneventful start to the second half but Killie went close again after 54 minutes when Wright flashed a header wide from a corner before McCrorie again denied Motherwell striker Watt’s low effort.
There was a distinct lack of quality from either side throughout the game but the second half was especially abject with Motherwell clearly missing the guile of their talisman Lennon Miller.
Kilmarnock continued to push for the opener as the second half progressed and Oxborough made another good save to deny Watkins from close range after 75 minutes.
Motherwell introduced new signing Kai Andrews for the latter stages and he looked to burst into the box in the 85th minute with the ball invitingly falling to Watt but he dragged his shot well wide.
And just minutes later, another substitute wasted a chance to become the hero when Bruce Anderson fired wide on the turn inside the box before Killie almost won it in stoppage time.
Bobby Wales’ excellent cut-back found Jack Burroughs eight yards out with the goal gaping but Dan Casey made an outstanding block to earn his side a hard-fought point.
The managers
Kilmarnock’s Derek McInnes:
“Draws should feel like losses at home and it felt like that tonight. It was one-way traffic and we completely grabbed hold of the game. Everything that we worked on was there but you need to find a way to score.
“Motherwell defended well, we got a goal disallowed and hit the bar. It’s hard to be critical when the only aspect missing was the final part but we have to make sure they are winning performances.
“We need to score more goals when we dominate games like that to get to where we want to be as a team. You aren’t always going to dominate games like that but when you do, you need to take your chances.
“The last few games have felt like missed opportunities for us because we could have moved into the top six tonight.
“I thought we should have had a penalty. Balmer’s hand was out and away from his body so I’m surprised that it wasn’t looked at.
“I never saw it at the time but when I got to my phone, I had about 10 messages. My analyst showed the replay to me and I thought it was.”
Motherwell’s Stuart Kettlewell:
“It was [an uncomfortable watch] in many ways. If I’m brutally honest, Kilmarnock were the better side, created the better chances and had better control in the game.
“I felt that we never got started and we let them come onto us. They got too many balls into our box and we relied on our goalkeeper too much tonight.
“He was sensational and you need that in the league but we’ve played a lot better and lost this season. It was our second clean sheet on the bounce and we are only three points off third.”
