YOU BLEW IT!
Newell claims Collum shirked penalty decision
HIBERNIAN midfielder Joe Newell claims that referee Willie Collum shirked a decision to award his team a penalty against Rangers at Ibrox.
The Easter Road star claimed for a spot-kick when he collapsed in the area after a high boot from Ianis Hagi, only to be turned down by the official.
Romanian Hagi was the scorer of the game’s only goal on Saturday afternoon as Steven Gerrard’s men kept their 16-point lead at the top of the Premiership.
Insisting Rangers spent the f i nal minutes wasting time and clinging on, however, Newell believes that a spirited Hibs f i ghtback i n awful conditions deserved at least one penalty from Collum.
‘If it is on the halfway line, it is a foul all day long,’ said the 27-year-old Englishman. ‘I have gone in to head it and I can’t actually tell you what has happened.
‘I think he (Hagi) has booted the other side of the ball, so I don’t know if there is actual contact.
‘But if there is a high boot, it is dangerous play and it is a free-kick anywhere else on the pitch.
‘If it is a penalty, I think the ref is a wee bit more nervous to give it, but I think it is a foul.
‘I said to the referee: “How is that not a thing?” and he said I had ducked down, but I don’t know. It was one of them.
‘Referees have a tough job, but if it is on the halfway line, then he probably gives it.’
Jack Ross’ side had a second claim for a spot-kick denied when defender Ryan Porteous claimed he was tripped by
Rangers skipper James Tavernier as he attacked a Hibs corner.
‘There was a shout from a corner for us as well,’ added Newell. ‘To get results here at Ibrox, you need to play well and to get a wee bit of luck. And you need decisions to go your way as well — and we didn’t get them.
‘But I thought that we gave ourselves a good platform.
‘Even when we lost the goal we didn’t panic and we didn’t change anything.
‘And then we came out in the second
half and we had a bit of a go at them. I don’t think anyone would argue with that. ‘I think we were probably the better team in the second half and we tried to force the initiative that bit more — and we feel we had the better chances. ‘It was disappointing because we wanted to get something from the game and I really think we deserved that. ‘I don’t see too many of Rangers’ games here at Ibrox but I can’t imagine there are too many teams come here and Rangers end up protecting the ball in the corner and wasting time in the last five minutes. ‘That is not a dig at them. That is part and parcel of football but I think it shows some respect to us and how well we played. ‘There are positives for us to take. You always want to take something from the game and we are disappointed with the result, but our general play over the last month or six weeks has been brilliant.’ Newell also praised the performance of on-loan keeper Dillon Barnes after the Queens Park Rangers man impressed in his first league start for Hibs. Despite the awful conditions created by Storm Bella, the 24-year-old English goalkeeper produced a couple of top-class saves from Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun as he stood in for the injured Ofir Marciano. ‘He’s a great lad and a great goalkeeper and I don’t think anyone had any qualms about him coming in to the side, the gaffer obviously had a lot of faith in him,’ said Newell. ‘So I don’t think any of the lads were worried, we know the qualities he has got. ‘Josh Doig came back into the team after a spell out and (Alex) Gogic did as well. I thought everyone played really well. ‘I think everyone will be proud of themselves, I know the gaffer is. We feel we did ourselves justice.’ With Hibs currently fourth in the table behind Aberdeen, Newell added: ‘We’ve had a good year since the gaffer has come in, the club have done really well. ‘The team had a good start to the season and performances like this give us confidence that we can kick on next year and be up there at the top of the table. ‘It’s been a good first half of the campaign and we’ll continue to be positive going forward.’