Ross rages over refusal of late penalty as never-say-die Livingston frustrate Hibernian
HIBS boss Jack Ross feels his side’s surge towards third place was derailed by a sure-fire penalty being turned down by referee Alan Newlands in added-on time.
The Easter Road side had seen a 50th-minute opener from Christian Doidge cancelled out by Aaron Taylor-Sinclair before shouting long and loud for a last-gasp spot-kick after a spot of bagatelle in the box had ended with the ball appearing to strike Livvy defender Ciaron Brown on the right hand.
Hibs had earlier failed to convert a penalty awarded after a clear handball from Taylor-Sinclair and Ross admits that reviewing footage of the latter stages simply hardened his view that another award should have been given.
‘At the time, I am guessing because I am quite far away from it,’ said Ross, whose side had entered the match on a three-game winning streak. ‘But I watched it back and, yeah, it is probably more clear than the one that is given.
‘It is what it is. By the definition of the rules, you would think that if one is given, the other should be given — because they are both pretty similar.
‘It was a frustrating afternoon for us. Not because of the draw itself, but because of the way the draw comes around.
‘I don’t think we were great, but I still think we dominated most of the ball and most of the territory.
‘Not so long ago, we were talking about earning points to get us away from trouble and now it’s about frustration at dropping points because you want to finish third, so that is a positive.’
It looked like an early spell on top would result in Ross’s side taking the lead midway through the opening period when a Martin Boyle cross struck Taylor-Sinclair’s hand in the area.
Scott Allan took responsibility from the penalty mark, but special mention must go to Robby McCrorie for the quality of the save that denied the midfielder.
Allan struck the ball firmly, but McCrorie got down well to his right and blocked with two hands.
The on-loan Rangers goalkeeper was at the centre of the action again shortly afterwards, doing well to parry a crisp drive from Marc McNulty.
In truth, Livvy offered nowhere near enough in key areas in the initial stages, with a 25-yard shot from Steve Lawson tipped over the crossbar in spectacular fashion by home keeper
Ofir Marciano their only effort of note from the opening period.
It didn’t take long after the break for them to finally fall behind.
Greg Docherty tried his luck with a low shot from the right-hand side of the area and Doidge flicked the ball past McCrorie with the most nonchalant of touches for his 17th goal of the campaign.
From there, it might have been expected that Hibs would cruise to victory. Instead, the visitors, their never-say-die spirit intact despite a hitherto low-key performance, got themselves back on level terms on 56 minutes.
Questions have to be asked about the role the home defence played, though, in conceding the equaliser.
Stevie Lawless moved onto a flick from Lyndon Dykes and provided a brilliant ball into the area.
Taylor-Sinclair, who had earlier missed a great chance with a back-post header, timed his run perfectly to beat a poorlyexecuted offside trap and stuck out a leg to force the ball past the exposed Marciano from close range.
McCrorie maintained parity thanks to a low save from Fraser Murray, on for an under-par Allan, and Scott Pittman had a chance to snatch the points with eight minutes left. Lawless delivered a tantalising ball in from the left, but home defender Andy Jackson put just enough pressure on Pittman, whose first-time effort went over the bar.
‘I am buzzing,’ said Livingston manager Gary Holt afterwards.
‘To go a goal behind and show the character and desire to come back speaks volumes for the boys. We could have been overrun at times, especially when you go a goal behind, but we stuck to our game plan and had some really good chances in the second half.
‘Aaron scored and he should probably have scored an easier chance earlier on. He maybe just shut his eyes at the wrong time.’
Maybe referee Newlands did too. Asked whether the man-in-the-middle simply didn’t want to give two penalties in the same game for handball, particularly with the second one coming so late, Ross ended the afternoon with the most delicious one-liner.
‘I couldn’t possibly say that,’ he smiled. ‘Although it is maybe not a bad time to try and get in trouble with the SFA…’