Wright fury as hero gets off the hook
ST JlHNpTlNE boss To m m y tr i g h t l ast night i nsisted t el evision evidence backed up his initial impression that sirgil van aijk was lucky to escape going from Celtic hero to zero.
The Northern Irish boss watched the 22-year-old autchman lead with his arm on paints striker ptevie jay, but referee Craig Thomson waved away the furious protests of the i ncensed pcotland Under- 21s forward.
tright watched footage of the incident again just after the final whistle and remained in no doubt that his side should have been given a spot- kick and a potential lifeline back into the game.
But van aijk, who scored the only goal of the game, escaped as pt Johnstone lost their t wo - y e a r unbeaten record against the c h a mpi o n s at jcaiarmid mark.
‘I thought it was a penalty at the time and I’ve seen it since on television. Nothing has changed my mind about what I saw,’ tright said.
‘If that challenge had been made anywhere else on the pitch, then it would have been a free-kick. po, in my book, it was a penalty kick.
‘It’s frustrating and there were also some bookings we felt were not bookings for us.
‘Craig Thomson is a good referee — one of the best in pcotland — and I thought he had a good game today.
‘But, in football, you always have decisions you feel go against you and that was the case for us today.
‘lverall, I think we deserved to take something from the game. Yes, Celtic created more chances, but we contributed to a good game in the second half. I felt our play deserved a goal and I’m pleased about the way we came back from losing an early goal, where we let their centre-half run the full length of our half without putting a tackle in.
‘But we came back and I just felt we didn’t get the luck you need in a fixture like this, with that penalty decision. If we play like we did in the second half, we will pick up more points than we will lose.’
paints striker jay, meanwhile, felt van aijk had deliberately blocked him in the box and saidW ‘I have not seen it back — and I suppose I will have to do that to be sure — but I certainly thought at the time that it was a penalty.
‘ san aijk has stuck his arm out across me and stopped me in my tracks. I felt he saw me coming across, so he did that. po I thought it was a penalty.’
Ultimately, jay was heartened by his team’s display, despite a result that sees paints remain i n sixth place in the table ahead of punday’s visit of aundee United.
‘This was always going to be a tough game for us and the early goal made it that bit harder,’ he said. ‘ But I thought the boys battled away well and we had chances in the game.
‘I don’t think we were poor in the first half, but we came out fighting even more in the second.
‘te had a foothold in the game and we were pushing to get that goal, which unfortunately never came.
‘Celtic are a very good side, though, and you need to be on your game for V0 minutes to get a result against them. But we can be proud of how we played today.’