SHOP BUCKIE THROW IDIOT
FROM BACK PAGE night. Hibs ace Darren McGregor described the act as “despicable” and, with a coin also lobbed at Sinclair, his captain Scott Brown and manager Neil Lennon hit out strongly at the offenders.
Celtic fans were guilty of firing a flare on to the pitch, which burned a hole in the surface.
A post-match Hibs statement claimed a bottle had also come from the stand housing the away fans. However, Record Sport understands the Parkhead club have requested and are eager to find out details of that but, as yet, have been given no further information.
Nonetheless, it was another shameful night for Scottish football and Gray insists acts such as bottle-throwing must be stamped out.
Asked if fellow Hibs fans should help catch the idiots, he said: “Definitely.
“There is no place for it. As much as it is your fellow fan it is unacceptable what they are doing so it needs to be stopped.
“If you can stop it at source that would be the most important thing. It is very few people who are doing it, it’s not as if it is every single week. Hopefully it can be sorted out as soon as possible because you definitely don’t want to see that in the game.
“First and foremost, safety for the players is the most important thing and I’m sure the club will deal with it. Hopefully they can identify what’s happened.
“No one expects that kind of thing to happen. Listen, there is no place for it in the game and players have to be safe.
“Everyone knows it is unacceptable. Hopefully the person who did it will be dealt with and will feel very sorry for himself. That’s the most important thing. There is obviously a lot of security at the games and the police do a fantastic job. I’m sure they will do all they can to try to put a stop to it.
“If anyone has thrown anything on the pitch it is unacceptable, regardless of what they have thrown.
“I understand tensions get high in the heat of the moment. The most important thing is for people to add to the atmosphere without overstepping the mark.”
Despite Sinclair’s near miss, Gray insists players do not go on to the pitch fearing for safety and Celts star Scott Bain echoed that.
The keeper said: “We can’t control what is going on in the stands. We can only control what we do on the pitch but I don’t think any of us have ever gone into games worried about things being thrown at us.”
Hibs spoke out instantly afterwards with a statement that said: “We will review the CCTV footage and work with the appropriate authorities to identify those involved in throwing items on to the pitch. We understand two bottles were thrown, one from each set of supporters. This is entirely unacceptable.”
McGregor said: “If it hit (Sinclair) it could be really serious. It’s despicable someone wants to throw a glass bottle on to the pitch. We need to root it out.”