Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe reckons Peterhead could have been down to “seven or eight” men, as the side thrashed out a 1-1 League One draw at New Broomfield.
Lewis Jamieson popped up with two minutes remaining to cancel out Jason Brown’s 33rd-minute opener to provide a share of the spoils in an entertaining game.
But McCabe pointed out a shocking foul by Andrew McDonald on Callum Smith, a lunging tackle by Julien Carre, which merited only a booking by referee Barry Cook, and he reckoned a few others were walking a tightrope.
“I think they should have been down to seven or eight men, to be perfectly honest,” he said.
“That’s me not criticising the referee, because I try not to get too involved with decisions, and the last thing I want is a spotlight about criticising referees, because I understand how difficult the job is.
“But I can remember one on the far side with Callum Smith, and there’s no intention of playing the ball.
“I understand the time-wasting element, it’s cuteness, and players being street wise throughout the game.
“But when someone takes a wild swing at one of our players when he has no intention of playing the ball it can really injure a player.
“It’s a shocking tackle, it should be a straight red.
“The wee boy in midfield [Carre] went through 70-80 minutes committing foul after foul, and I pointed that out to the referee.
“They’re maybe not the most aggressive fouls in the world, but it’s an accumulation of 10 or 12 fouls, how long can that go on?
“The big lad at the back, McDonald, had three or four after his booking, which on another day maybe gets a red card.
“But I’m not going to complain about the decisions, that’s not why we don’t have three points today.”
McCabe was pleased with the result after demanding a reaction at the interval, but felt Airdrie should have had enough to see off basement battlers Peterhead.
He said: “It was a battling performance, and LJ popped back up with a goal.
“The second-half performance probably merited a minimum of a draw.
“I thought in the second half we were in total control.
“In the first half we weren’t at it, we weren’t at the races, and they thoroughly deserved their lead.
“It took until half-time to say a few words and put a few boys on their toes to get a reaction – and I asked for a reaction.
“I think we got that, in fairness, with the level of performance, the amount of chances we created, and we dominated the ball.
“On another day you maybe get two or three of those goals, and they just weren’t falling for us.
“LJ gets his goal because he takes his touch early, he gets his shot away nice and early, but too many times throughout the first and second half we took an extra touch or delayed pulling the trigger.
“I’m pleased with the second half but I’m disappointed with the overall result.
“We should have done enough to win the game, but in terms of how the game went and what I asked for reaction wise, in the second half I was much more pleased.”
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