Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass is adamant that Kevin Van Veen should have been sent off as he blasted John Beaton's decision-making.
The Dons were furious that Motherwell hero Van Veen, who scored one, set up a second and almost scored a sensational third, was allowed to stay on the park.
Glass was booked for protesting that the Dutchman survived after a first-half booking and what he thought was a second-half foul on defender Ross McCrorie.
His assistant, Allan Russell, was so incensed that he was shown a red-card in a full-time confrontation with whistler John Beaton.
The visitors had looked to be in command of the game before falling behind midway through the opening half.
Van Veen’s influence over proceedings was all the more difficult to stomach for the Pittodrie side who felt he should have been dismissed.
“I am not asking for players to be sent off but you saw the incident we complained about at the time,” said the Aberdeen gaffer Glass.
“I think the referee takes the easy option. The guy has two kicks at Ross McCrorie – pretty blatant - and the ball goes out for a thrown in so the referee doesn’t have to give a foul and a second yellow.
“He (Van Veen) probably should have got it in the first half but the referee chose not to give one then as well. But that’s one of the top referees in Scotland, so, you know, who am I to question him.
“He walked over and gave me a yellow card. I asked him after: why? He said it was for unacceptable behaviour. At that point I hadn’t said anything to him. I don’t know. They’ve got their reasons.
“I don’t want to talk about the referees too much. The amount of times they slowed the game up was a concern for us but didn’t seem to be a concern for the referee. That’s up to him, he manages the game how he chooses.
“I would presume Allan’s red card was for dissent but I don’t know and I don’t care to ask the referee or the fourth official who don’t want to speak to me.”
Glass, meanwhile, has maintained that Aberdeen’s form is not reflected in the fact they have now gone six games without a win.
“People were pointing at us before the game and this is the first time we have been beaten in the league,” he said.
“There are a lot of teams underneath us in the league that won’t be asked the same question. We’ve lost one league game and we were knocked out of Europe losing two games. But people will point to things like that when you are at a big club.
“It’s up to us to start winning games again.”
