Angry Hearts approach the Scottish FA, condemn referee John Beaton and point to other errors and imbalance

Hearts today condemned referee John Beaton’s decisions during Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Aberdeen, and revealed they will approach the Scottish FA to demand an explanation. The Edinburgh club are seething that Beaton sent midfielder Cammy Devlin off for two questionable yellow cards, leaving them with nine men and leading to Aberdeen’s late winning goal.

Beaton showed Hearts defender Michael Steinwender a red card on 43 minute for denying Aberdeen’s Topi Keskinen a clear goalscoring opportunity. Tynecastle officials did not question that decision in a statement released on their website this afternoon, however they took issue with both Devlin’s cautions.

The Australian midfielder received a yellow card on 77 minutes for a challenge on Pape Gueye in which he won the ball before making contact with the Aberdeen midfielder. Play was dead due to an offside call a millisecond before the tackle. Then, four minutes from the end of extra-time, and with the score still 1-1, Beaton showed Devlin a second yellow followed by a red card. Devlin attempted to clear a loose ball at the edge of Hearts’ penalty area and Dante Polvara got a toe to the ball first. Devlin caught Polvara and Beaton sent him off.

Seconds later, Oday Dabbagh scored Aberdeen’s winner, leaving more than 22,000 Jambos devastated after extra-time. Hearts received a third red card at full-time when assistant coach Mike Garrity approached Beaton at the end and was dismissed for dissent. The club today revealed their feelings in a lengthy statement, and also pointed to an imbalance in refereeing decisions during their games this season.

The statement read: “Now that the dust has settled on Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final, everyone at Heart of Midlothian Football Club would like to say thank you to our supporters. Your backing is never taken for granted, particularly when it has been a challenging, and ultimately disappointing, season. To have nearly 22,000 Jambos inside Hampden Park was an incredible feat, and your support undoubtedly inspired the team on the pitch to battle until the very end, where, against all odds, it looked as if the players had earned the opportunity to take the match to penalty kicks, and deservedly so.

Aberdeen Scottish Cup win leaves Hearts upset after Hampden heartache

“While we give credit to Aberdeen for making the most of their opportunity in the 118th minute to win the tie, we take issue with the refereeing decision immediately preceding it. It is the club’s view that neither yellow card issued to Cammy Devlin in the match was warranted and we should not have been put in the position of having to finish the game with nine men, which directly affected the outcome.

“Saturday came on the back of other decisions this season that have also not gone in our favour. It is often quoted that errors generally balance themselves out across a season. However, a cursory glance at the KMI Review Panel published reports show that we have benefitted once from errors in our favour – the joint second lowest in the Premiership – and have suffered four errors against – the joint second highest in the Premiership. Public silence on our part should not be mistaken for inaction.

“Throughout the season we have maintained dialogue with the Scottish FA on these matters, and while we always prefer to air our grievances in private, on this occasion, given the magnitude of the occasion that was a Scottish Cup semi-final and what was at stake, we believe that the club and, most importantly, its supporters deserve better.

“Once again, we will engage with the Scottish FA in an attempt to understand why these decisions are made, see acknowledgement as to when they are indeed wrong and determine what can be done to learn from them to ensure that they are not repeated.

“When circumstances are under our control we will do our best to act appropriately. The club has recently publicly declared that this season has not been good enough and it is our intention not to see it repeated. When circumstances are outwith our control, such as refereeing decisions, then our supporters should know that be it publicly or privately, we will always challenge for the benefit of the club and its fans, because as owners, they deserve to have their voices heard.

“Again, we thank our supporters for their unrivalled backing, not just on Saturday but across the entire season, and we look forward to welcoming them back to Tynecastle Park this weekend as we all strive to finish this campaign as strongly as possible.”

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