Ryan McGowan ‘head-butt’ row could lead to ban

By Stephen Halliday
Published on Wednesday 4 January 2012 00:00

HEARTS defender Ryan McGowan has criticised Hibs winger Ivan Sproule’s reaction to their off-the-ball altercation in Monday’s Edinburgh derby, which is set to be assessed by SFA Compliance Officer Vincent Lunny today.

McGowan could face a two-match suspension if Lunny decides he has a case to answer for violent conduct after appearing to shove his head into Sproule’s chest after being fouled by the Hibs player.

The incident occurred with the teams level at 1-1, but referee Calum Murray took no action against McGowan and awarded a free-kick to Hearts for Sproule’s initial foul. Hibs manager Pat Fenlon and captain Ian Murray later claimed McGowan should have been shown a straight red card for his part in the clash.

But the 22-year-old Australian, who opened the scoring for Hearts in their 3-1 victory with a goal Hibs felt should have been ruled out for offside against Stephen Elliott, insists he did not head-butt Sproule and claimed the Ulsterman overly dramatised his response. “He’s just made a meal of it,” said McGowan. “He (Sproule) just fouled me and you can’t just stand straight up when you get up from the ground. I’ve come up and I was going to go towards him, but he’s gone towards me. It’s more just him walking towards me and me trying to get up.”

McGowan, currently filling in at left-back in the Hearts side for the injured Danny Grainger, says he will cherish the memory of his first goal for the Gorgie club coming in such a high-profile fixture.

“It’s just unbelievable, you can’t explain it. It’s something that will stay with me forever,” said the player who had loan spells at Ayr United and Partick Thistle before establishing himself in the Hearts first-team set-up.

“To win at Easter Road is a special thing, but to get on the scoresheet with such a screamer is even better! I saw Andy Webster go up for it and the ’keeper spilled it. It was probably going in but I was making sure I was getting my head to it.

“I’ve been in the crowd a couple of times at Easter Road and I just know how much all the fans love it. I couldn’t think of a better way to score.”

Although it took Hearts until the final ten minutes to score the two goals which secured all three points, a Marius Zaliukas own goal having drawn Hibs level at 1-1, McGowan is adamant it would have been unjust if Fenlon’s men had managed to avoid defeat.

“I don’t think they deserved anything, to be honest,” he said. “We scored all the goals! They didn’t really create too much. They had a five or 10-minute spell in the second-half, but you expect that playing away from home.

“But I thought we won all our battles and everyone played well. I don’t think they deserved anything, to be honest. We played really well and it could have been more if Ian Black hadn’t missed the penalty at 0-0 in the first half. If he had scored that, we could have been walking away maybe three or four up.”

Taken from the Scotsman