ROBINSON RAGES ON RETURN

New Buddies boss riled by ref in Hearts defeat

SO much for the new selfproclaimed calmer version of Stephen Robinson. Match day one in his role as St Mirren manager ended in a post-game evisceration of Greg Aitken’s refereeing performance.

Renowned as a feisty, occasionally volatile character during his prior spell as Motherwell manager, the Northern Irishman heralded his return to Scotland by saying a spell at League One Morecambe had granted him serenity.

Before expanding on his team’s loss to Hearts, he at least he had the self-awareness to joke that it was as if he had never been away.

Robinson was angered by a firsthalf red card for midfielder Connor Ronan, incensed by a decision not to award his team a penalty before half-time and hotly disputed the award of Hearts’ second goal after what he claimed was a clear foul on his keeper Jak Alnwick.

‘I think the whole game was dictated through decisions,’ he said. ‘At the second goal, Jak is adamant he had the ball in his hands. The big lad goes through, follows through and the ball ricochets free.

‘I think everybody was surprised not hear a whistle, including the fourth official, he told me.

‘The penalty on Alex (Greive), looked blatant to me and the boy is on a yellow card. The red card in the first half changes the game, rightly or wrongly. I’ve yet to see the decision back but it didn’t look like there was too much malice in it.’

Robinson may have been right on all counts — but it’s worth stressing that, by his own admission, he had not watched any of the offending incidents back before commenting.

In the end, it was superiority of numbers that won the day for the Edinburgh side. That Ronan caught Beni Baningime was not in doubt. The challenge might even have been late enough to merit a yellow card.

But having stepped back from the incident, apparently to allow tempers to cool, referee Aitken’s decision to show red surprised most in the stadium.

‘It’s a real debatable one,’ added Robinson. ‘We will look at it again to see if it’s worth appealing against.’

The fact a posse of Saints players felt compelled to approach John Beaton might point to the fourth official’s hand in the decision. But either way it stoked a sense of grievance in the home players, staff and supporters.

Every subsequent challenge by a Hearts player, fair or foul, was met by howls of protest, loudest of all when Greive tumbled as he and Ben Woodburn chased the ball out of the penalty box at a set-piece.

Prior to the red card, Hearts had made all the running, Liam Boyce twice meeting crosses from the left to threaten Alnwick first from Stephen Kingsley then Barrie McKay.

Just before the penalty shout, an Alex Gogic header had been deflected wide, but Saints found it harder after the break as Hearts reasserted their early dominance.

And they ought to have taken the lead when Boyce pulled the ball down, unmarked on his chest, smack bang in the middle of the penalty area. Perhaps the lack of attention led him to relax too much, but his slowness to dispatch the shot allowed Alnwick to snuff out the angle and make a brave save.

With the extra-man advantage, it was no surprise to see Hearts boss Robbie Neilson introduce Ellis Simms as an extra striker — and the rewards were quick in arriving.

McKay galloped into space on the counter and delivered a low left-foot cross that took the off-balance Charles Dunne out of play and was met by Simms.

Again, Alnwick blocked, but the on-loan Everton man squeezed home the angled rebound. There were similarities in the execution of goal two but yet more protests from the home camp.

Simms’ shot was blocked by Alnwick, who took a clatter from the striker for his troubles. Cammy Devlin tucked away the rebound as the keeper lay prone.

The onslaught continued, and Simms was denied a second by a stunning fingertip save that saw Alnwick divert the ball on to the bar and over.

The defeat was the Paisley team’s first since Boxing Day, when Jim Goodwin took a Covid-ravaged squad to Ibrox. Brought in from Morecambe following Goodwin’s move to Aberdeen, Robinson is adamant morale won’t be dented.

He added: ‘We’re not going to let today’s result derail us. We can’t control decisions... but we can control our reaction to it.

‘The boys have been on a good run and we have to start another one on Wednesday, although it’s Celtic and it doesn’t get any easier!

‘I learned a lot today. We have a good team spirit. The boys fought to the end. Almost everything went against them but they didn’t let that affect their work-rate or attitude.’