Hamilton Accies 2-2 Motherwell

A late Lukas Jutkiewicz equaliser gave Motherwell a valuable point against 10-man Hamilton at New Douglas Park.

Accies' Guillaume Beuzelin was shown a second yellow after 30 minutes and Ross Forbes missed a first-half penalty.

Simon Mensing put the hosts ahead with a header from a corner after an hour, but Jamie Murphy's superb strike in the 78th minute restored the balance.

Marco Paixao headed past Fraser to retake the lead, but Jutkiewicz coolly slotted home to salvage a point.

Motherwell manager Jim Gannon reshuffled his side with John Ruddy, Yassin Moutaouakil and Shaun Hutchinson out. Fraser came into goal while Stephen Craigan returned and winger Chris Humphrey deputised at right-back.

Hamilton made one tactical change for the match, with Beuzelin replacing David Elebert.

Motherwell's Jutkiewicz came close with a low drive in the fourth minute that tested Cerny in the Hamilton goal.

Five minutes later, John Sutton had the ball in the back of the Hamilton net, but referee Craig Thomson decided he had fouled Cerny and the goal was chopped off.

On 21 minutes, Beuzelin sclafed a shot wide after latching on to a James Wesolowski pass on the edge of the penalty area.

Humphrey did well to break free down the right-hand side and cross in, but Sutton's short-range effort slipped wide of Cerny's left-hand post.

Shortly after the half hour, Beuzelin received his second yellow card for persistent fouling in the space of two minutes and Hamilton were reduced to 10 men.

Steven Saunders tested Cerny with the resulting free-kick, then Mickael Antoine-Curier sped to the other end and fired in a powerful shot from the left that inched wide.

With half time approaching, Hastings brought down O'Brien inside the area with a crude challenge and referee Thomson pointed to the spot, but Forbes's feeble penalty was easily saved by Cerny.

On the stroke of half-time, Motherwell's Tom Hateley blasted in a long-range effort that Cerny parried wide for a corner.

Immediately after the restart, Antoine-Curier's claims for a penalty were waved away and, moments later, Cerny pulled off a fantastic double save at the other end.

Motherwell's Jamie Murphy broke free on the counter-attack, only to fail with his final ball across the Hamilton defence and the hosts re-gathered.

Paixao tried to keep up the pressure from Hamilton with a free-kick from 20 yards out after he had been fouled by Humphrey, but watched it sail wildly over the bar.

The opener finally arrived on the hour mark when Mensing leapt on to Paixao's corner and headed past Fraser to put 10-man Accies into the lead.

Antoine-Curier collected an angled ball on the right-hand side of the Motherwell penalty area and wasted too much time before blasting his shot across the face of goal.

Motherwell pressed for an equaliser and Steve Jennings came close with a short-range effort that skimmed past Cerny's left-hand post.

The deserved equaliser came from the boot of Jamie Murphy in the 78th minute when he collected the ball in front of goal 25 yards out and blasted it high into the back of the Hamilton goal.

Jennings could have sealed the points two minutes later with a clear shot at goal that inched past the post.

The relief for Jim Gannon's side was short-lived when Paixao leapt on to a Wesolowski cross and headed past Fraser to retake the lead.

As the final whistle approached, Giles Coke sprinted down the right-hand side and flighted in a cross for Jutkiewicz to slot in a crucial late equaliser.

Hamilton manager Billy Reid:
"It's mixed emotions. We lost Guillaume Beuzelin, who was making his debut. For that to happen to him in the manner it did, totally frustrated him.

"It was the making of the game. We were playing with 10 men for a long time.

"But we went ahead, and they had chances, but Tomas Cerny in goal was sensational.

"We didn't go on the defensive and tried to take the game to them.

"For our players to play so long with 10 men was absolutely fantastic. If we keep that up, we'll be fine."

Motherwell forward Lukas Jutkiewicz:
"I was pleased to get the equaliser. I thought there might even be a few more goals in it.

"It was end to end stuff, and I'm sure the fans went home happy. It was a pretty intense game.

"There was a lot of big guys at the back for them, they have a big physical presence, but the game opened up a bit more after the sending off and it became more exciting for the fans.

"I think the sending off could have gone either way. The second was definitely a yellow, but maybe the first was a little bit harsh on him.

"I don't like to see any players getting sent off, and I think it was maybe a bit soft."

n, McHugh, Lasley, Fraser.