Lennon is livid over Hamilton ‘cavemen’ and the ref

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NEIL LENNON launched a furious attack on Hamilton and referee Don Robertson, claiming his team were victims of a ‘caveman’ approach to tackling that endangered the safety of John McGinn and other Hibs players.

Lennon called out a host of Hamilton men — five of whom were booked — for a succession of incidents he felt Robertson failed to deal with as the visitors spilled points from a lead earned by Simon Murray’s goal on 29 minutes.

Antonio Rojano’s header to level the score stretched Accies’ unbeaten run to five games.

Dropping two points was not the main source of concern for Hibs boss Lennon immediately after the game. He sounded glad to count each of his team back in with their limbs intact, such was his disgust at the treatment he believed his players were subjected to by Accies and Robertson.

‘There was one team trying to play football and the other team trying to kick the cr** out of the opposition,’ said a raging Lennon.

‘We got no protection at all. We’re going to lose John McGinn. Either he goes to England or he ends up in hospital. The quality of tackling was absolutely disgraceful.

‘How they (Accies) ended up with 11 men on the pitch is beyond me. At our goal, two of them tried to take (Brandon) Barker out with no attempt to play the ball.

‘The referee should have booked them. The tackle on McGinn at the end was disgraceful.

‘We should have had a penalty when (Dylan) McGeouch was taken out as he tried to cross the ball and we believe there may have been a foul in the build-up to their goal.

‘I’m very frustrated — but not with my team. I thought they were brilliant on a very difficult pitch against a team who made no attempt to play the right way.

‘The referee was completely out of his depth. We’re going back to the 1950s. I like hard men. But anyone can kick people. They were taking swipes at us at any opportunity.

‘McGinn got kicked up the backside — then he gets booked, having been fouled, a petulant little trip on him when he goes in for a tackle. The referee gives us a free-kick but books John.

‘There was no protection for him or the likes of Martin Boyle. It’s caveman stuff. I love the physical side, but you have to play within the laws of the game. How they ended up with a full complement of players beggars belief.’ Finishing a distant second to Celtic must be such a dubious accolade that no team wishes to claim the runnersup berth. Fresh from losing in the dying seconds to St Johnstone, Hibs ducked the chance to stamp themselves serious contenders to chase home the champions by surrendering an advantage that — until midway through the second half — they always looked like increasing. With insipid Rangers sinking to successive defeats and Aber- deen on a run of just one win in four, Lennon will be hugely frustrated by the outcome once his initial anger over the disciplinary issues subsides — and the SFA knock on his door. Speed killed Accies as Hibs seized the lead. Barker broke from the edge of his own penalty box after an Accies attack spluttered. He gave a succession of pursuers the slip with ease and when Murray peeled right to offer him the out ball, the striker was picked out perfectly and powered a right-foot finish high past Accies goalkeeper Gary Woods.

The movement of Murray and Boyle kept the home defence on the back foot as Hibs dominated possession.

McGinn tested Woods from 20 yards, the Accies No 1 needing a strong right hand and fine positioning to keep out the Scotland midfielder.

Controlled and purposeful, Lennon’s men were on a mission to atone for the mess made late last week. Another goal was the antidote for that, however, and while the traffic continued to flow towards Woods as the second half began, that vital addition did not arrive.

Murray flashed a header over the bar but Woods then laid the foundations for Accies to plunder a point with a smart reaction to deny Boyle and a block on the line as Paul Hanlon pounced with a header.

Accies rode out that storm and gradually crept into the contest. Their rising confidence was demonstrated by David Templeton’s terrific delivery for the equaliser.

Marvin Bartley was robbed by Dougie Imrie in the middle of the park — in one of the many challenges that angered Lennon.

Templeton then dug out a delightful ball over the Hibs defence to find Rojano inching goal-side of Steven Whittaker and Ofir Marciano was left rooted to the spot by the Argentinian’s looping header.

There was one last chance in injury time after Xavier Tomas took a wild swipe at McGinn. But Darian MacKinnon summed up Accies’ grit by charging the set-piece and smothering the danger.