If yesterday’s game had been a boxing match, and at times it felt like it was, the referee would have stopped it to save the Falkirk players from any more punishment.
The first quarter was evenly balanced with both teams guilty of niggly fouls before former Hibs’ midfielder Tom Taiwo was shown a straight red card following a challenge on John McGinn.
The ordering off sparked an angry reaction from both sets of players as well as the supporters and from then on the game was an ill-tempered affair which referee John Beaton struggled to control.
By ignoring blatant time wasting by Falkirk keeper Danny Rogers, Beaton annoyed the large Hibs’ support who all recalled that last season Mark Oxley had been punished for much less.
Hibs had the ball in the net twice but both ‘goals’ were ruled out for offside and created chance after chance but the well organised Falkirk defence held firm.
With 13 minutes remaining Falkirk took the lead against the run of play and what annoyed the Hibs’ fans most was that goal-scorer John Baird should not have been on the field.
His ‘tackle’ on Andrew Shinnie merited a red card but did not even receive a yellow as did his ‘challenge’ on Paul Hanlon where he grabbed the Hibs’ defender round the neck.
Remarkably Beaton awarded free kicks but took no further action and he was roundly booed off the pitch at full time.
Hanlon equalised five minutes later but the Bairns held on for a share of the points,
After the game Lennon said: “We had total domination as you’d expect with 10 men. We should’ve won the game and they’ve scored from one corner.
“That’s my frustration really, not the amount of goals we haven’t scored, but the fact we conceded from a corner where we just lose our discipline. Three players going for the one ball; you don’t defend like that.
“We showed enough character to get back into the game and on another day we’d have won the game comfortably. It’s frustrating, but we’re a point clear at the top of the league.
“I think it was a sending off; it’s a two-foot challenge, his studs were up and he was late. I maybe need to see it again, but I wasn’t surprised to see a red card.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
Lennon should be even more ‘annoyed’ at gaining 18 corners and not threatening Falkirk’s defence with any of them. Maybe give Michael O’Neill a call for some hints and tips !
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