Pat Fenlon rages at ref and is ‘disgusted’ by Kilmarnock defeat

HIBERNIAN manager Pat Fenlon said he was “disgusted” after his team’s 1-0 defeat by Kilmarnock yesterday left them six points ahead of Dunfermline at the bottom of the table.

Fenlon had no complaints about the goal, a first-half penalty by Dean Shiels after Jorge Claros had fouled Liam Kelly, but he was critical of referee Craig Thomson, in particular for the booking which rules Leigh Griffiths out of the game against Dunfermline early next month.

“I’m disgusted that we haven’t got something out of it, because we played quite well,” said Fenlon, who spoke to Thomson as the official left the field at the final whistle. “I can’t fault the players for effort and everything else. We just didn’t get a little break.”

“My players’ performance was very good. He [Thomson] has got to assess his, and other people have got to assess him, so I’ll let them do that.”

Griffiths was booked in the game’s opening stages after going down in a challenge on the edge of the box with Michael Nelson. Thomson yellow-carded the striker for simulation, but Fenlon insisted Hibs should have been awarded a free-kick. “It’s not a booking,” he said. “I’ve just watched it. It’s a foul. He’s clear through on goal – he’s hardly going to go down.

“We had the same with Ivan [Sproule] up in Aberdeen. Funnily enough, same referee. I don’t know. You can’t do anything when a player gets booked and shouldn’t be booked. It’s a loss, but we’ve got good players to come in and replace him. We’ll just have to get on with it.”

Hibs can become all but certain to escape the drop if they beat St Mirren next Sunday and Dunfermline lose to Aberdeen the day before. Fenlon’s team would then be nine points ahead with three games to play, and their goal difference would be at least 13 better than Dunfermline’s.