ROBERTSON 'PIG-SICK' AFTER DECISION

Hearts head coach John Robertson insisted referee Hugh Dallas and linesman Andy Davis had blundered by awarding the controversial last-minute penalty which allowed Rangers to leave Tynecastle with a precious 2-1 victory.

An extraordinary finish to a hard-fought match saw Fernando Ricksen convert a spot-kick after chaotic scenes in which Rangers striker Dado Prso and Hearts' Lithuanian midfielder Saulius Mikoliunas were both shown red cards as tempers boiled over.

Robertson was convinced his side had suffered a huge injustice because he was convinced Lee Miller had not fouled Sotirios Kyrgiakos for the penalty.

He said: "Hugh Dallas allowed us to come in after 15 minutes but the assistant referee refused to discuss it.

"So I asked Hugh Dallas. He said that his assistant referee had clearly seen Lee Miller pull down Kyrgiakos with two hands on his shirt.

"We have seen the tape and that wouldn't appear to be what happened.

"Kyrgiakos has thrown himself at it. Lee Miller has stood his ground with his arms wide and Kyrgiakos has actually tried to punch the ball and missed. It has come off him and gone for a goal-kick."

Mikoliunas was so furious with the penalty award that he raced over to confront the assistant referee before receiving his marching orders, while Prso had earlier been shown his second yellow card for trying to retrieve the ball from Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon as he waited to see what the referee would award.

Rangers manager Alex McLeish admitted the penalty award had seemed a soft one.

He said: "I saw the linesman right away. He was my first target. I saw he had made a gesture and said to Andy (Watson, Rangers assistant manager) 'I think he's given a penalty'.

"Sotirios is the only one who claimed. There was not a bunch of players claiming. I'd seen it on the replay and it looked as if the guy had made a back for Sotirios a bit. But it is of the soft variety."

Rangers took the lead early in the second half through Nacho Novo but when substitute Mark Burchill netted with three minutes remaining it seemed the Light Blues would have to settle for a point.

But Ricksen's penalty allowed them to maintain their six-point lead over Celtic at the top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

McLeish said: "Only at the end of the season will we be able to tell how significant it is."

Robertson insisted the controversial nature of the penalty award meant there were mitigating circumstances for Mikoliunas.

But the Lithuanian is on course for a hefty punishment as not only did he confront linesman Davis but he also swore at Dallas.

McLeish, who will make no appeal against the Prso dismissal, felt the player was guilty as charged. He said: "You can't go pushing linesmen around."

Taken from sportinglife.com