Even Gers were shocked

HEARTS chairman George Foulkes last night claimed Rangers chiefs were EMBARRASSED by their dodgy penalty on Wednesday night.

Foulkes also urged SFA bosses not to throw the book at Lithuanian hothead Saulius Mikoliunas for his amazing shove on linesman Andy Davis.

Mikoliunas lost the plot after Davis flagged for the hotly-disputed spot-kick that handed Rangers a 2-1 win at Tynecastle.

But Foulkes said: “The Rangers players didn’t claim a penalty and in the boardroom afterwards the Rangers directors seemed somewhat embarrassed by their luck.

“I think they thought Christmas had come early. The penalty decision was seen as unfair by fans and players and that should be taken account of in mitigation of Saulius.”

Mikoliunas faces a fine from Jambos for barging the assistant ref — and has apologised for his crazy actions.

The Lithuanian kid was red-carded TWICE by ref Hugh Dallas in the mayhem that followed the decision.

Mikoliunas was furious that Davis had signalled for a tug on Sotirios Kyrgiakos by Lee Miller and that the linesman had told Dallas to award the controversial penalty.

And Foulkes said: “I am not condoning what Saulius did or excusing it but I hope the SFA take account of the

circumstances that led up to it. He is a young, enthusiastic and committed player who has become very popular with the fans.

“I think that propelled him to do what happened.

“The player came off the field and was in some distress and left the ground very quickly after it in tears.


Taken from the Sun