Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon fumes after draw with Kilmarnock
Saturday 24 February 2018 17:30, UK
Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon was fuming with referee Kevin Clancy after a controversial penalty in the 2-2 draw at Kilmarnock and described officiating in Scotland as "Mickey Mouse".
Lennon would have enjoyed the opening 10 minutes with Florian Kamberi and defender Ryan Porteous giving the visitors an early two-goal cushion.
Jordan Jones pulled a goal back on the hour and three minutes later Kris Boyd scored the equaliser from the rebound after his penalty was saved.
Porteous was adjudged to have handled for the spot-kick decision which had an incensed Lennon shouting in the face of Clancy and applauding sarcastically.
Lennon, who was sent to the stands, did not hold back in his post-match analysis and said: "It's amateur, it's Mickey Mouse stuff. It needs to get better, it's not good enough.
"Every week or every other week we're talking about major decisions that are blatantly obvious and they're being called wrong. Every week I see a manager complaining about poor refereeing decisions.
"I think the standard of refereeing is declining as the game in Scotland is improving."
Lennon also revealed his anger to Sky Sports News and added: "It's frustrating because once again we've been done by a referee decision.
"It's Kevin Clancy who didn't give us the clear penalty handball we should have done against Rangers. I was worried before the game and my thoughts have come to reality again. I think he's a poor referee."
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Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke refused to be drawn on the debate around the penalty and, despite coming back from two goals down, he cut a frustrated figure despite the battling point.
Clarke said: "We should have won the game, no doubt. We were the best team by a mile, I thought we were excellent.
"The overriding feeling I've got just now is disappointment that we've dropped two points at home."
