SOME refereeing decisions are controversial and invariably split opinion. Others are so clear cut they leave such a stinging sense of injustice that they require some kind of salve to ease the pain.

Instead, all Motherwell striker Scott McDonald got was hot water on an already inflamed wound. The Australian did not hold back in his verdict, delivering a scathing post-match attack during which he described the match officials as “embarrassing” for their failure to shoulder responsibility for what turned out to be a pivotal first-half moment.

John Beaton, the referee, later confided to McDonald that he believed the striker's 20th-minute cross had been carried over the line by the Dundee goalkeeper David Mitchell, with television pictures proving beyond any doubt the visitors should have been awarded a goal.

As if that weren't hard enough to accept, their opponents proceeded to take a 39th-minute lead at the other end through Cammy Kerr before Canadian international striker Marcus Haber ensured back-to-back league wins for the Tayside club for the first time since April with a simple 79th-minute finish.

It left the Fir Park visitors experiencing a sense of injustice as well as bewilderment at why neither Beaton nor his linesman, Ross Haswell, intervened when it mattered most.

"I think it was there for everybody to see that it shouldn’t have been if somebody wanted to make a decision," said McDonald. "Both didn’t want to make a decision which is, quite frankly, not good enough.

“If you are a referee or linesman and you are put on the spot then you are in that job for a reason – to make a decision, not to back out at the last second and go 'oh!' It was a mis-hit cross and he [Mitchell] deals with it but even their players were saying that was in.

“We were all going on our instincts saying that was in. When I looked at the linesman, it was as if somebody had just been killed. He didn’t want to make a decision which was embarrassing. The referee tells us at half-time that from where he was he thought it was in but his linesman didn’t give him a decision.

“Well, if he doesn’t make a decision then the referee has to. If he thinks it is in then he should give a goal. They won’t like it because I am criticising them but if you are not going to make a decision then you are going to be criticised.”

Dundee, for their part, moved joint level on points with Mark McGhee's Steelmen thanks to this long overdue victory, so the circumstances in which it was acquired won't trouble them in the slightest.

It's a quite different matter for Motherwell, though, with the memory likely to rankle for a while yet, at least until they have a chance to erase it altogether after the international break.

The Lanarkshire club has managed only one clean sheet so far this season. Ironically that came against Dundee back in August, but even addressing the issue of that sorry sequence was the furthest things from their minds after this set-back.

“I will be criticised for giving the ball away for the first goal, “ conceded McDonald. “I have to put my hand up. But it is easier for them [officials] to say 'yes'. The first goal is crucial as we all know.

“Did we play well enough? Probably not to win the game. Unfortunately, the next one is after a two-week wait which is a bit of a sickener.”

Meanwhile, Kerr celebrated his first goal for Dundee but insisted winning was far more important than receiving any personal plaudits.

The 21-year-old defender swept into the net just before half-time to put Paul Hartley's side on the way to their first league victory at Dens Park this season as they moved off the foot of the Premiership.

Kerr said: "It was great to score.

“It was my first goal and it meant a lot to me. But the most important thing is we showed how good we are as a team. We knew with the win last week at Hamilton we had to win again this week. It was massive."