Neil Critchley insists Heartswere denied a stonewall penalty by VAR at 2-0 up – but still blamed his players for the spectacular late collapse to Ross County.
The Tynecastle boss was left shaking his head at both referee Ross Hardie’s about-turn for the spot-kick and his players’ failure to prevent a 97th and 99th minute collapse. Critchley, angry at the lack of game management in those final moments, said: “We were comfortable at 2-0, and the game was over really. They hadn’t really threatened our goal, so we should have seen the game out.
“It’s just two crazy moments that we don’t defend well enough that cost us three points. It was really like a war of attrition. You’re relying on moments, and we had two really good moments for our goals. Those were two moments of quality that put us in front, and those were the difference between the teams at that moment in time, and we should have seen the game out to take all three points.”
Referee Hardie had pointed to the spot instantly when James Penrice was brought down by Michee Efete with Hearts cruising from a James Wilson double. But he was called to have another look and changed his decision.
Critchley said: “The referee gives a foul, and the initial contact might be outside the box but it clearly carries on inside the box, so it’s a penalty. He gives the foul, then looks at the screen and gives a free kick.
“The contact carrying on into the box means it is a penalty. I thought we had cleared that up after the cup final, but clearly not. The extra time comes from the VAR fiasco. There were eight minutes, which there shouldn’t have been, but we still need to see the game out.”