Archibald defends Devine for his spot of bother
PARTICK THISTLE boss Alan Archibald blasted the handball decision which saw Danny Devine sent off at Tynecastle yesterday.
With Thistle 1-0 ahead through a Kris Doolan header, Devine was given a second yellow card and sent off after referee Andrew Dallas adjudged him to have handled the ball as he blocked Don Cowie’s shot.
Despite being a man down, Thistle rallied to go 2-1 ahead through Stevie Lawless, only for Andraz Struna to score an 88thminute equaliser for Ian Cathro’s Hearts.
Archibald was left frustrated and called for greater clarity in how the laws are implemented.
‘It was always going to be hard with ten men,’ he said. ‘We’ll take the point as it’s always hard in that situation.
‘I wasn’t surprised by the penalty decision given a few that came before it. You will see another ten of those incidents next season, and they will be called differently.
‘I don’t feel like there are any set rules or any kind of consistency in these things. If it hits his hand, it should be a red or not a red. But he has given a yellow.
‘You could see one in a couple of weeks and it might not even be a yellow card or a penalty. There is no consistency whatsoever.
‘He goes to block the shot and his arms come across his body to block it and it hits him. I don’t really know what he can do to avoid it.
‘I definitely think it needs cleared up, we have been on the wrong side of it three times when we first came up.
‘I would rather if it’s a handball then it’s a penalty or otherwise. Because next week it could be a different referee and it will be a different decision.
‘I feel like a lot of decisions against us. It’s Tynecastle and we expected that — there were four minutes added for four subs.
‘We were under a lot of pressure but I thought we had the clearer chances Chris Erskine was one-onone and we had chances to slide people in.
‘But we showed great character and that was no surprise. We had seven injuries today but I thought we responded brilliantly. Andy McCarthy and Tomas Cerny, in particular, were outstanding.’