St Johnstone 1-1 Hibernian: Irate Neil Lennon says refereeing 'beggars belief'

Hibs goalkeeper Ofir Marciano was sent off in the 1-1 draw with St Johnstone

Neil Lennon was incensed by the refereeing of John Beaton during Hibernian's 1-1 draw with St Johnstone.

His side played more than 75 minutes with 10 men after goalkeeper Ofir Marciano's red card.

Lennon, serving the first match of a three-game touchline ban for misconduct and criticism of officials, watched from the McDiarmid Park stand.

"It's a good job I was in the stand given how I felt about the referee's performance," the Hibs head coach said.

"Yes, he got the red card right, there's no question about it, but the decisions second-half, how they ended up with 11 men on the pitch is beyond me."

The visitors took an early lead when Efe Ambrose nodded home Scott Allan's cross after only two minutes but were soon depleted as Marciano raced some 30 yards from his goalmouth and raised his arms to block from Saints striker Chris Kane.

Both sides created chances in an entertaining battle, with Kane eventually levelling for Tommy Wright's men in the final 10 minutes.

Lennon, though, believes referee Beaton failed to adequately punish a spree of Saints fouls, insisting home midfielder Blair Alston should have been dismissed for a cynical second-half foul on the counter-attacking John McGinn.

"The tackle from Alston is red card; it's cynical, it's reckless, it's endangering my player," Lennon told BBC Scotland.

"He gets a yellow and then, two minutes later, after the referee telling Paul Hanlon that he's on one more, he takes John down again and nothing's given. It beggars belief.

Hibs manager Neil Lennon is currently serving a three-match ban and watched the game from the stand

"My players were amazing tonight, it was a great game. We had to weather a bit of pressure in really demanding circumstances and I've nothing but praise for the players.

"We got off to a brilliant start and we shot ourselves in the foot with the red card really."

The Easter Road boss has twice publicly called for greater protection for his players this season - an assertion he reiterated on Friday evening.

When asked whether he had discussed Saints' tackling with Beaton after the match, Lennon replied: "What's the point? You all see it - I've just been in doing the press and everyone's in agreement with me.

"We can't always get it wrong. It sounds like sour grapes again - I'm looking out for my players here.

"I get the red card for us, it's the right decision, so I support the referee on that. But I can't support some of the decisions he made second-half.

"Murray Davidson could easily have got a second yellow. In the end, Tommy took Alston off - why did he take him off?

"We try to play the game the right way and this isn't the first time I've asked for more protection from my players; this is maybe the third time.

"Some of the tackling is really, really dangerous - if you can call it tackling.

"The game's live on TV, you guys watch the game and understand the game, you know when a bad tackle is a bad tackle. The only one who doesn't seem to agree with us is the referee.

"Sometimes people say you have to respect the referee - I get that, but I can't respect that decision, I really can't, because it's wrong.

"I'm not looking for the game to be evened up. I just want the rules of the game applied in the right way.

"That's not a tackle - I know how to tackle and that is not a tackle."