Kilmarnock 2 - 1 Queen of the South: Kenny Shiels puzzled by McKenna sending off that helped Killie progress

Published on 03/12/2012 01:00

Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels was disappointed by the dismissal of Queen of the South player Stevie McKenna in this fourth-round tie at Rugby Park.

Scorers: Kilmarnock - Sheridan (8), Perez (69)

Queen of the South - Clark (77)

Referee: M Tumilty

Attendance: 4,295

Kilmarnock won 2-1 but Shiels was dismayed by the decision to send off McKenna for a challenge on Borja Perez just two minutes into the game.

“The Football Association must have changed the rules on tackling and I don’t know if there is a directive about tackling from Uefa,” said the Kilmarnock manager. “But I am trying to figure out what they are. I couldn’t see anything wrong with the tackle and I would be very disappointed if I was Queen of the South.”

Shiels drew comparisons with the previous week when Manuel Pascali was red-carded, a decision Kilmarnock unsuccessfully appealed against.

“It was almost a reversal of last week when Pascali was sent off for a similar kind of challenge and St Johnstone had the extra man,” Shiels added. “It hindered us as it gave us more space and time on the ball and we had too many options. There is nothing wrong with playing possession football but it needs a purpose. I am delighted, though, to get through and thought it was well deserved. We started last season’s league cup run with a victory over Queens so who knows where we can go from here.”

Unbeaten in the league and with cup wins over Hibernian and Rangers this season, Queens had high expectations of adding Kilmarnock’s scalp.

Being reduced to ten men for 88 minutes made it extremely difficult and when Cillian Sheridan guided a Perez corner into the net after eight minutes it was almost mission impossible for the Second Division side.

A second goal by Perez, who sidefooted the ball home from eight yards after a speedy counter-attack, should have killed off the tie.

But Allan Johnston’s men did not give up and when leading scorer Nicky Clark pulled one back with a brilliant diving header from a Ryan McGuffie cross high into the net, the Queens made it a tense final 13 minutes.

“It was very frustrating,” said former Killie player Johnston of the dismissal. “It is a hard job for referees but it just looked like a strong tackle to me.”