Dundee suffer another low blow as McCannhits out at referee Beaton

AS manager of a team who have now lost five games on the bounce and sit bottom of the league, Neil McCann does not exactly have his troubles to seek.

But the Dundee manager had one particular problem in mind last night — and it centred around the display of referee John Beaton at Easter Road.

With the score at 1-1, a melee broke out just after the half-time interval which involved pretty much every player on the pitch.

Hibs striker Anthony Stokes, who would later create the winning goal for his team, flicked an arm into Dundee defender Jack Hendry’s nether regions.

‘I am absolutely furious,’ said an emotional McCann. ‘He (Stokes) punched Jack in the b **** . The fourth official clearly saw it, yet the referee booked my player who had just been punched.

‘After the game, John Beaton told me he goes on the information he has been given. That information was: “The player has been struck by another player”.

‘He then says he didn’t deem it violent conduct — it was “aggressive behaviour”. Well, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t take a lot to be painful when you get clipped in the b **** . I’m sorry for my profanities, but I’m absolutely raging.

‘To rub salt in the wounds, the architect of the second goal (Stokes) is the guy who shouldn’t be on the pitch.

‘I’ve seen it again and it was a punch. Not to send him off was a disgrace.’

The day did not begin on a positive note for Dundee, with revelations about a bust-up between McCann and goalkeeper Scott Bain.

Axed from the squad, Bain’s place was taken by debutant Elliot Parish.

But the 27-year-old had yet to even touch the ball by the time he was required to fetch it from the back of his net.

With little over 60 seconds on the clock, Marvin Bartley and Brandon Barker combined to win a couple of 50-50s in midfield and the ball was eventually fed to Martin Boyle wide on the right.

The Hibs winger did well to drop his shoulder and engineer a yard of space, but Dundee were not exactly busting a gut to close him down as he advanced into the penalty area and angled a low shot across Parish and into the keeper’s bottom-right corner.

On such a ruinous run of form coming into the match, the concession of such a cheap early goal could have seen Dundee buckle. But they were having none of it.

Time and again, Faissal El Bakhtaoui skipped past Bartley and John McGinn in a way that very few players have managed to do this season.

But it was Dundee’s other winger who created the equaliser on 21 minutes.

From wide on the right, Roarie Deacon clipped a floated cross into the area, hoping someone might attack it. Marcus Haber duly obliged by cushioning a clever header back across Ofir Marciano and into the far corner.

Make no mistake, the goal rattled Hibs. They were all over the shop for the remainder of the half and, after losing Dylan McGeouch to a hamstring injury, the fact that Neil Lennon opted to use his other two substitutes at the interval illustrated just how sluggish his team had been.

From Dundee’s point of view, they will rue how different the outcome might have been had Marciano not pulled off one of the saves of the season to deny El Bakhtaoui in the 48th minute.

From 12 yards out, the initial touch from El Bakhtaoui was good, the volley at goal excellent, yet the save from Marciano was better still; throwing himself low to his right to claw the ball away with one hand.

It was a stunning intervention from the Israeli, simultaneously lifting the crowd and injecting a surge of momentum into Hibs which eventually saw them grab the winner on 64 minutes.

From high on the left, Stokes dinked a cross over to the back post. On another purple patch, striker Simon Murray cushioned a volleyed finish across Parish and into the bottom corner to secure a fourth victory on the bounce for Lennon’s side.