The Scotsman

‘The fourth official swore at me’ claims Hibs boss

● Heckingbot­tom outburst after derby draw

- By ALAN PATTULLO

Paul Heckingbot­tom has accused fourth official Gavin Duncan of swearing at him during yesterday’s Edinburgh derby and said if they were anywhere else, he would have “knocked his teeth out”.

The normally genial Hibs head coach revealed in an interview with BBC Radio Scotland that he had been sworn at by the official after his side had been pegged back by Hearts in the 1-1 draw at Easter Road.

Heckingbot­tom refused to elaborate on the incident later with reporters. Asked what had made him so animated on the touchline, he had earlier told BBC sport reporter Brian Mclauchlin that “it didn’t help getting sworn at by the fourth official. I’d have knocked his teeth out if it was anywhere else. So that was one of the reasons”.

Asked if he would make a complaint, Heckingbot­tom added: “It didn’t bother me, you just asked me why I was animated. That was it.”

The Hibs head coach was apparently upset by Craig Thomson’s decision not to bring back play after Hibs failed to gain any advantage when the referee allowed the game to continue following a foul at the end of the first half.

He was also left frustrated by Hibs’ failure to take all three points after missing a penalty and then going ahead following Christophe Berra’s own goal. Uche Ikpeazu’s equaliser with six minutes left earned a share of the spoils for Hearts, who remain three points adrift of their rivals. Heckingbot­tom was critical of his side’s attitude after going ahead but claimed Hibs had done enough to earn the three points.

“Sometimes you do not get what you deserve and I think today was one of them,” he said. “But you cannot begrudge it. If you are not clinical at one end and there is only one goal in it, it doesn’t matter who you are playing, teams are going to get chances. They will be dangerous. So you are playing a dicey game if you try to hold on to one goal.”

Heckingbot­tom laid no blame at striker Marc Mcnuty’s door. He blasted a second-half penalty against the outside of Zdenek Zlamal’s

Uche Ikpeazu admits his celebratio­ns after scoring the equaliser in yesterday’s Edinburgh derby were crazy but has no regrets about antagonisi­ng the Hibs bench.

Theheartss­trikersaid­hisextreme celebratio­n – he ran towards the Hibs dugout and danced a jig – was not directed at anyone in particular and was simply the result of relief. His late equaliser came almost 25 minutes after he had gifted Hibs the chance to take the lead from the spot when impeding Paul Hanlon.

Ikpeazu said this had made him angry – and Hibs certainly did not like him when he was angry.

While Marc Mcnulty missed the resultant kick by striking the outside of Zdeneck Zlamal’s righthand post, Hibs did go ahead soon afterwards when Daryl Horgan’s cross was deflected into his own net by Christophe Berra. Ikpeazu said he used the let-off of the missed penalty to motivate him in a late surge that saw Hearts claim a point when he swept home an equaliser with six minutes left.

Ikpeazu raced towards the dugouts and did a dance in front of Hibs head coach Paul Heckingbot­tom and his assistant Robbie Stockdale, neither of whom seemed impressed.

The striker later said he didn’t care if his antics had upset anyone. “It was just adrenaline, sometimes you just do crazy things and it wasn’t directed at anyone,” he said.

Ikpeazu suggested emotion had got the better of him. The 24 yearold passed a late fitness test to play following a bout of illness and went on to score his fourth goal in his last seven appearance­s.

“When I gave away the penalty and they missed I thought maybe it was meant to be,” he said. “It’s not my nature to give up, you have to keep going.

“I thought we’d get something when they missed it. It rejuvenate­d me I should say because giving away a penalty in a derby is not what you want to do.” Craig Levein, pictured, praised Ikpeazu and defended his rumbustiou­s style once again.

“He gets a fair degree of criticism because he is different. He has a different way of playing to a lot of players,” the Hearts manager said.

“He is quite a strong character though and he keeps going. He has strong belief in himself which is important. For him to get us back in the game with the goal, he thrives on scoring. He feels he will always be judged on that. It is good for him to get eight goals having missed a lot of the season.”

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 ?? PICTURE: SNS ?? 0 Rangers boss Steven Gerrard proves he has lost none of his skills as he juggles with the ball on the touchline yesterday.
PICTURE: SNS 0 Rangers boss Steven Gerrard proves he has lost none of his skills as he juggles with the ball on the touchline yesterday.
 ??  ?? 0 Heckingbot­tom: Frustrated.
0 Heckingbot­tom: Frustrated.
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