Hibernian boss David Gray reprimanded Nectar Triantis for the “unacceptable” red card he felt handed Motherwell the impetus to go on and win 2-1 at Easter Road.
With the match delicately poised after Hibs’ Junior Hoilett had swiftly cancelled out Apostolos Stamatelopoulos’ 56th-minute opener for Well, on-loan Sunderland midfielder Triantis – booked for diving in the first half – was shown a second yellow in the 77th minute for a needless foul on Tony Watt in the middle of the pitch.
The Steelmen took full advantage of the extra man as they scored the decisive goal just three minutes later when Andy Halliday got himself free on the edge of the six-yard box to prod home a long throw from Kofi Balmer.
“When you’re on a yellow card, you can’t go off the ground again and give the referee a decision to make,” said Gray.
“Regardless of what you get the first yellow for, when you’re on a yellow card you can’t do what he did in the second half. (Watt) wasn’t going anywhere.
“From that moment, it’s definitely cost us. Once you’ve got back to 1-1, you’re at home and the momentum starts to build again, you think, ‘right, can we go on and win the game?’. That definitely stops you.
“You go down to 10 and you lose the goal three minutes after that, then you’ve got a mountain to climb.”
Asked if Triantis held his hands up afterwards, Gray – who also rued poor finishing and “unprofessional” defending from set-pieces – said: “Yes, I think he knows he’s made the mistake, but it doesn’t change anything.
“I understand that if you’re the last man and you’re trying your best to stop a clear, obvious goalscoring opportunity, but in that situation it’s just a lack of discipline and out of character for him, to be honest.
“But at the same time, he needs to learn from it, we certainly can’t accept that.”
Well boss Stuart Kettlewell conceded his side were fortunate not to be behind at half-time but was delighted to eke out a sixth victory in seven matches in all competitions.
“To come here and get the victory is really good because I said before the game I feel that Hibs have gone up a level as a football club, so it was always going to be a tough day for us,” he said. “Set-pieces were the defining factor I think in the game.
“If I look at the bigger picture I don’t think we were great in the first half at all. We rode our luck, no doubt about it. They had plenty of pressure, plenty of balls into good areas, plenty of efforts at our goal.
“Then at the start of the second half, there was a moment when Zach Robinson pressed their goalkeeper and then we got good pressure out on their right-hand side and I think that just gave us a lift and a wee bit of belief.”
