McInnes angry as Dons are denied penalty

Posted Sunday, August 26, 2018 by PA

Derek McInnes slammed referee Andrew Dallas for his failure to award Aberdeen a first-half penalty as Hibernian fought back to claim a dramatic 1-1 draw at Easter Road.

Jamie Maclaren bagged his maiden goal since returning to the capital club on loan to cancel out Tommie Hoban’s opener, preserving the hosts’ unbeaten home record in 2018.

However, McInnes was left baffled by Dallas’ failure to point to the spot on the cusp of half-time when Paul Hanlon – on a booking at the time – appeared to trip Dons youngster Lewis Ferguson in the box.

McInnes said: “The biggest talking point was the penalty kick. The referee was in such a brilliant position, so we credit him for that – but dearie me, how he doesn’t give that penalty, I will never know.

“I have watched it back and there is no way Paul Hanlon touches the ball, he just comes through and takes young Lewis down. That is such a pivotal moment because it should be a second yellow card and a penalty kick.

“Away from home at such a difficult venue, it would have been a huge shot in the arm at that stage. It was the wrong decision.

“Every team gets bad decisions but if he sees what I have seen on the laptop – well, I am scratching my head to see how he can’t give a penalty.

“His job is to take responsibility for the big decisions – and he didn’t.”

Neil Lennon, meanwhile, believes a share of the spoils was the least Hibs deserved after knocking on the door in search of a leveller throughout the second period.

However, he was frustrated to see his side concede courtesy of an ‘awful’ set-piece, which was almost a carbon copy of the strike that broke the deadlock when they exited the Europa League against Molde.

The Northern Irishman stated: “I thought the performance was excellent and we deserved better.

“My only bone of contention is the goal we have conceded. It’s awful. And we emphasised defending set-pieces before the game – only to concede from another one.

“From that aspect, you only have yourself to blame when you start chasing the game.

“It changed my team-talk at half-time because they got a rollocking rather than me saying ‘well played’.

“But we dominated the second half, we took the game to them and got the least we deserved.”