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| <-Page | <-Team | Tue 26 Dec 2006 Hearts 3 Hibernian 2 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Post Match Comments | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | <-auth | ROB ROBERTSON | auth-> | Mike McCurry |
| 24 | of 060 | Paul Hartley 2 ;Edgaras Jankauskas 48 ;Saulius Mikoliunas 70 Chris Killen 55 ;Dean Shiels pen 61 | L SPL | H |
Collins says referee cost victoryROB ROBERTSON at Easter Road December 27 2006 John Collins, the Hibs manager, last night blamed referee Mike McCurry for costing his side victory in the most pulsating Edinburgh derby match of recent years. Hearts won 3-2 thanks to a sublime winning goal from the much-maligned Saulius Mikoliunas in a game that had everything. Hearts just about deserved their win, though they were helped to victory by a dreadful goalkeeping error by Zbigniew Malkowski and the sending-off of Dean Shiels. He was sent off just seconds after he had scored a penalty for Hibs to make it 2-2. After he took the kick he ran towards goal to get the ball out of the back of the net and knocked over goalkeeper Craig Gordon in the process. Collins was furious at the decision and claimed linesman Willie Dishington, who McCurry consulted before sending off Shiels, had told him it was for a punch on the Hearts goalkeeper. "The linesman came over and accused me of punching Craig Gordon and I totally deny that," said Shiels. "I was running to get the ball." Television pictures show that Shiels did not punch Gordon, but he ran straight into him and pushed him out of the way with both hands. "I have watched it five times on television and it was never a sending-off," said Collins. "The linesman and the referee got it wrong and although we all make mistakes we were the ones who were punished. "Anybody who has played football at a high level would realise that when you score a penalty you want to get the ball back. "The linesman told me Dean had been sent off for a punch but he didn't punch him. Momentum took him forward and it was Dean, at nine and a half stone, up against Craig Gordon at 13 stone. "No doubt Craig Gordon will have to go to hospital after that. Yes, Dean should not have run into him but it was just a booking at the very most. A red card? Never in a million years." Collins also claimed that his side was the only one trying to play football during the 90 minutes. Certainly there was a clash of styles with Hibs trying to play through the midfield while Hearts preferred to play long balls up to their strikers. However, any side with Paul Hartley in the line-up can never be accused of simply playing back to front football and Collins was being rather ungracious in his summing-up of the match. Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas said the referee was right to punish Shiels. He said: "I saw him barge him. I saw a red card. It wasn't clever for him." Nerijus Barasa fouled Shiels to concede the penalty but Ivanauskas added: "I spoke with Nerijus and he said there was nothing in it. But I need to see it on television. "It's not easy for the referee – it's a big derby game – and if the referee says it was a penalty, it was a penalty." Ivanauskas claimed Robbie Neilson was rested, not dropped. The defender has recently spoken out about his unhappiness at events behind the scenes and was omitted from the 18-man squad. But Ivanauskas said: "It was the same with Takis Fyssas, both players were rested. We had a hard game against Dundee United and, after three days, we had to freshen the players."  Taken from the Herald |
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