Match hardly needed any incendiary incidents but got them on and off the field of play
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 12 May 2011
By Alan Pattullo
at Tynecastle
IT was uglier, far uglier than feared and left you grateful for just one thing. The league season is almost over.
Neil Lennon was targeted by a fan who had shot out from the main stand enclosure at Tynecastle. Lennon reacted the way anyone probably would if attacked from behind at a time when his personal safety is such a sensitive issue. Ten or so minutes of utter bedlam followed. It was possible to fear for more than just Lennon's safety as fans in the Celtic end erupted in defiant manner. Fights broke out in the away end as Hearts fans goaded them further. A burst of "We are the People" was particularly ill-advised.

Lennon, meanwhile, shook himself down and resumed his position at the edge of the technical area.

There will surely come a time - perhaps we have already reached it - when he will conclude that it really is not worth it, and the rest of us are welcome to the madhouse that is Scottish football. He had to leave the dug-out area at one point in the second half, escorted up the tunnel by a policeman

Celtic were much better than on their last outing here, while Lennon, too, had appeared conscious that his conduct had to improve on his previous appearance at Tynecastle. It was referee Craig Thomson who let everyone down, or at least his near-side linesman did. Thomson's decision to red card David Obua, on Keith Sorbie's advice, prompted even Lennon to hold his head in his hands.

Even given the stakes, this was not the way he wanted to keep the championship alive. The Celtic manager's reaction was a more eloquent appraisal of a situation than he managed after the many controversial episodes which marred the last encounter between these teams in Gorgie in November.

Obua's flicking of Charlie Mulgrew's head would surely not have been considered a dangerous act in a netball game. But Thomson, on the advice of his linesman, had to reach for the red card once more and brandish it at Obua, just as he did when, in November, Joe Ledley made a late challenge on Ian Black that was ill-judged enough to mean there could at least be some debate over whether he deserved to go or not.

The same referee was placed in an unenviable position last night, and had to act on his assistant's recommendation. He did the same in November when sending Lennon to the stands, following Steven McLean's report of the manager's abusive language. There was substance in that at least. Here we saw a game ruined as common sense took a holiday. It was particularly regrettable given the potentially explosive nature of a match that did not require such an injection of controversy, as we discovered five minutes after half time.

The year 1986 was prominent in everyone's thoughts last night and, credit to Hearts, they elected not to shy away from the 25th anniversary of That day at Dens Park.

An entertaining article in the match programme offered one fan's take on it.

Celtic, too, marked the occasion by wearing this season's version of their "Love Street strip", which they sported when putting St Mirren to the sword. It was feared that the anniversary of such a emotive afternoon might simply add to the tension present. Outside Tynecastle a mobile electric sign asked all fans to have their tickets ready. A recorded voice boomed out from a speaker, informing fans that "barriers will be in place following the match". It was all a bit unsettling but nothing had prepared us for the sickness in the heart of one individual.

An article in the match programme urged fans to consult "the Hearts songbook" when making a noise. Whether "You're going to win f*** all" is included in this collection of tunes is open to question.

The opening goal, after just 12 minutes, suggested they would be successful. Obua's red card just over 20 minutes later all but confirmed it.

Lennon, to his credit, appeared as dismayed as those in the Hearts dug-out. It seemed a crazy decision, even if Obua does have form for forgetting to engage his brain. He laughed as the referee held up the red card. Lennon placed his gloved hands to his head. Later, in scenes that again shamed Scottish football, he would need to use these same mitts to defend himself.

Taken from the Scotsman