St Mirren are left beaten and bewildered

JIM REYNOLDS

14 Jan 1991

What happened was

downright cheating,

says Fitzpatrick

TWO of the old cliches came to mind in the aftermath of Saturday's match at Tynecastle.

Swings and roundabouts; six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.

Hearts, so passionate in their condemnation of a referee the previous week against Rangers, were almost embarrassed to talk too much about their 2-0 win over St Mirren.

Not so Love Street manager Tony Fitzpatrick, whose observations on the handling of the match by East Kilbride referee Bobby Tait are among the strongest ever uttered by a club official in the recent history of the game.

The normally mild-mannered Fitzpatrick branded referee Tait as a cheat -- and he did so in the full knowledge that his outburst would almost certainly result in a whopping fine by the football authorities.

Mind you, I have little doubt that every St Mirren fan who travelled to Edinburgh would be only too glad to dip into their pockets to help Fitzpatrick pay it.

St Mirren, let it be said, were not good enough to win a match which perhaps should not have been played in the first place -- the referee's first mistake was probably to declare the pitch playable -- but the manner of their defeat was such as to leave us all a little bewildered.

Fitzpatrick, flanked by club secretary George Pratt and assistant manager Gordon Smith -- a delegation which left no doubt that the complaint was official -- wasted no time in giving his verdict.

He said: "I have never felt so cheated in my life as I do at this moment.

That was unbelievable, an absolute disgrace.

Even Hearts people have apologised to us about the referee's handling of the game.

I know this is going to cost me money, but I just can't sit back and take this kind of thing.

"They say that it's players who get managers the sack, but that's nonsense.

It's guys like that who get you the sack.

"I try to be honest in everything I do, which is why feel I have to speak out strongly on this matter.

What happened out there was downright cheating.

I am not asking for favours, only fairness."

Fitzpatrick was incensed over the ordering off of Kenny McDowall after 48 minutes, when he sent Neil Berry crashing onto the track right in front of the home dug-out.

He became the sixth St Mirren man to be sent off in a first-team match this season.

But the St Mirren manager defended his players.

"We are not a physical side," he said.

"People don't get carried off when playing against us, but we've had three players who had to have surgery this season.

We all know who got Kenny McDowall sent off today."

Fitzpatrick would not elaborate on that, but it could have been a reference to Hearts manager Joe Jordan's reaction to the incident.

He jumped from the dug-out and pushed McDowall before going to see how his own player was.

After things had cooled down Jordan was given a lecture by the referee and told to stay in his seat.

"I had a close view of that tackle," said Jordan.

So did we all -- and it is the one complaint from St Mirren which I can't agree with.

The referee was right to send McDowall off.

That, however, is as far as the defence for Mr Tait goes.

On every other count the sympathy must lie with St Mirren and Tony Fitzpatrick, who will in the course of time be judged by people who were not within miles of Tynecastle at the weekend.

In 23 minutes Hearts were given a penalty for an alleged foul by young Kevin McGowne on Gary Mackay.

It was a bad decision.

Not one Hearts player appeared to claim for a penalty and the Paisley players just could not believe the decision.

John Robertson scored from the spot.

Inconsistency then crept in when Hearts' goalkeeper, Henry Smith, came outside his box to handle the ball as Saints got themselves into a scoring position.

It was a professional foul and, as such, could have resulted in an ordering off.

Mr Tait showed a yellow card to Smith.

Steve Archibald was then clearly impeded by Berry when going for a header just two yards out.

This time no action was taken, and the final straw so far as Saints were concerned came

in 71 minutes when Jimmy Sandison blatantly handled a ball from Mark McWalter inside the penalty area and the referee again took no action.

Robertson's second goal 15 minutes from time was incidental.

By that time the St Mirren players must have felt as if there was no justice in the world

Now we must sit back and await the assured summons Fitzpatrick will receive from the SFA and the subsequent outcome.

But no matter what punishment is meted out, no doubt the St Mirren manager will feel he did the right thing by speaking his mind.

In this instance my sympathy lies with St Mirren, and what happened at Tynecastle on Saturday merely underlines the urgent need for a high-level summit involving referees, legislators, players, and managers to sort out the alarming situation in which the old game finds itself.

It seems that every other week managers or club officials are coming out condemning the people who handle the football matches.

They all cannot be wrong.

St Mirren secretary George Pratt revealed at the weekend that his club had lodged an official complaint against Garrowhill referee David Miller, who handled their match against Dundee United at Tannadice the previous week.

During that match Saints' goalkeeper, Les Fridge, had to be carried off with serious abdominal injuries for which he later had surgery.

Said Mr Pratt: "We didn't make an issue of that in the media but went through the proper channels."

Taken from the Herald