John Rankin told referee he hadn't been fouled for Hibs penalty

Published Date: 03 May 2010
By STUART BATHGATE
IF ONLY Dougie McDonald had listened to John Rankin, the Edinburgh derby could have turned out a lot better for Hibernian. Or so, at least, you might conclude if you shared John Hughes' analysis of Saturday's game.

When Rankin went down in the Hearts box less than ten minutes into the second half, McDonald awarded a penalty despite being told by the Hibs midfielder that Marius Zaliukas had made no contact with him. Anthony Stokes stepped up to give his team the lead from the spot – and that, according to Hughes, was when things began to go wrong for his team.

It may be counter-intuitive to suggest that taking the lead can be bad for a side, but the Hibs manager reckoned that with more than half an hour still to play his team took fright and became too defensive. The concession of two goals in the last 20 minutes consigned them to a sixth straight defeat and cut their lead over Hearts to three points.

"We got a right good start to the second half with Stokesy scoring the penalty, and then that's when the whole game changed," Hughes said. "For me it changed it on its head after that.

"I think it scared us. I think were scared to go and win the game – we sat back to deep and were hoping we'd see the game out.

"That's a recipe for trouble. Saying that, the two goals we conceded were poor, poor goals. I felt we were the much better side in the first half and a little bit unfortunate not to come in at half-time leading the match. I said to the boys go and do the same second half and you'll win the football game."

Having begun that second half brightly, Hibs hardly had an attack worthy of the name following their penalty – which, as Rankin was candid enough to state, should not have been given. "To be honest, I don't think it is a penalty," he said.

"I said that at the time. I told the referee there was no contact made. I tried to move my feet quickly, lost my balance and fell to the ground. Dougie MacDonald asked me what happened and I told him I was just trying to get out of the road and he (Zaliukas] was trying to get out of the road of me. I lost my balance, but I think he sees it as the player tried to play the ball and impeded my movement off the ball. So that's why he gave the penalty.

"He's made his own decision. I can only be as honest as I can and say there was no contact made. If he sees that as a penalty then that's it."

Rankin, who was Hibs' best player on the day, disagreed with his manager's analysis, suggesting Hibs were too open rather than too defensive. "I don't think we felt nervous," he continued.

"We felt we had to go and win it rather than settle for the draw – I don't know why we thought that. We were trying to press for the next goal and maybe left ourselves a wee bit open."

The one consolation for Hibs at the end of another disappoint day was that Motherwell suffered a heavier loss. That leaves Hughes' team still a point behind the fourth-placed club, but now with a better goal difference. The teams meet at Fir Park on Wednesday.

Hearts are at home to Dundee United on the same night and midfielder Ian Black said: "We've worked hard, we've got results – been grinding them out We're always positive."

Black wants to make amends for this term's brief Europa League campaign, which saw Hearts fall to Dinamo Zagreb at the first hurdle. "I got a wee taste of it at the start of the season and I really enjoyed it. It'd be great to bring it back."

Taken from the Scotsman