Mallan disappointed as Hibs fail to see out win

STEVIE MALLAN was in an understanding mood last night as he nursed the bruises sustained during a fiery second 45 minutes and two robust challenges plus a verbal onslaught from Derek McInnes, the Aberdeen manager, at the end.

It is all part and parcel of football, the Hibs midfielder insisted, looking back on the straight red cards flashed before the faces of Curtis Main and, with seconds remaining, Lewis Ferguson; two Dons players not knownforanamby-pambystyleofplay.

The former St Mirren and Barnsley player made light of the claim by McInnes - articulated by Aberdeen assistant manager Tony Docherty – that he had made the most of the incidents.

That the visitors departed Pittodrie with just one point was more concerning for Mallan, who joined everyone in the near 14,000 crowd in wondering how his team-mate Christian Doidge failed to score at least once from his four opportunities when only Joe Lewis stood before him and glory.

“The challenges were rash,” he claimed. “The decision lies with the referee. I’ve not had a part to play in either of them.

“Both of them caught me. I’ve gone down in both – and after that it’s up to the referee.

“You get these types of challenges in games.”

Main’s dismissal 10 minutes into the second half, seven minutes after Ryan Porteous had shot the Hibees into the lead, left Paul Heckingbottom’s side a clear way to go on and secure their second win in 13 Premiership games.

Well, it would have, had Doidge not failed with his quartet of chances.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, especially when they went down to 10 men,” Mallan said.

“At 1-0 against 10 men, we should have seen the game out.

“Aberdeen crept back in, as they always do. They got one chance and they took it.”

It fell for Sam Cosgrove, whose height paid off with four minutes of regulation time remaining, as his header from Niall McGinn’s cornerkick levelled the scores.

The towering striker was unconvinced that Don Robertson’s decisions to send-off Main and Ferguson were correct as he witnessed at close quarters how the respective tackles were executed.

On the red card for his striking partner, Main, he said: “I was literally right next to it and I was shocked to see the red come out straight away. Maino has lunged in, which was sloppy, but there was absolutely no malicious intent.

“He has not gone in with his studs up. He has literally stamped on the guy’s foot.

“In my eyes that’s not a red card, but I am not a referee so I can’t give an expert opinion on that.”