East Kilbride boss Kevin Rutkiewicz reckons referee Gordon Seago gave 10-man Kilby an added incentive to see out their Scottish Cup win over Deveronvale - as he revealed the bizarre reason Motherwell loanee Logan Dunachie saw red.
In an action-packed contest at Princes Royal Park in Aberdeenshire, East Kilbride ran out 4-2 winners to book their place in the second round and set up an all-Lowland League tie with Caledonian Braves next month.
But they had to do it the hard way after being reduced to 10 men when Dunachie picked up a second booking 20 minutes from time for telling the referee to ‘stop getting so close to his face.’
Rutkiewicz himself was booked for his protests after the decision, which came with EK leading 2-1 thanks to goals from Cami Elliott and Ronan Hughes.
Reece McGuire’s fine solo run and finish in the 80th minute put EK 3-1 up before Vale pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute.
McGuire netted again in the fourth minute of stoppage time to secure Kilby’s progress, but Rutkiewicz felt the officials’ display only served to spur his side on.
Explaining Dunachie’s dismissal, he said: “It’s a blow losing Logan for the next game in the cup.
“He’s a young kid and he’s got to learn, but it is frustrating because I’m not sure he did an awful lot wrong.
“He’s not been cursing and swearing at the referee. The story I’ve been told – and I know players can spin you a yarn – is Logan felt the referee was too close speaking to his face and the referee has taken umbrage with that.
“The referee booked him but he’s forgotten he booked him earlier in the game. He went to walk away and then he realised’ uh-oh, he’s got to go now’.
“It’s very harsh. I did ask the referee after the game if that was the situation – that he had forgotten he was on a yellow – and he didn’t deny it, so that tells me a lot.
“My yellow card wasn’t for foul and abusive language either. The linesman just thought I’d said too much.
“I’m an emotional person and you can’t take the emotion out of football. It was borne out of the way the game was being handled.
“There were a few sideshows and the referee didn’t get a few things right on the day.
“But I actually thought it helped motivate my players.
“After the sending off there was a real steeliness about us and I think my players felt there was a 12th man there, so they got angry.
“I loved that anger because it gave them a real purpose and I think we were excellent for those last 15 minutes.”
Previewing the game last week, Rutkiewicz said he expected a real derby-type game in Aberdeenshire and that’s exactly what Kilby got.
He added: It was played in a really good fighting spirit but there wasn’t any needle.
“I was really happy with the performance overall.
“I think 4-2 was slightly flattering to Deveronvale on the day. I thought we were miles ahead in terms of how we moved the ball as a team and I’m not talking Deveronvale down here because they are a young team.
“We’ve just got a lot of experience and we were very comfortable, should have been 3-0 up, but an individual error causes their goal.
“We were pretty dominant, although it doesn’t look like that from the scoreline.
“There was a lot to talk about, but I think that was down to the officials more than the players.
“I thought both sets of players were competitive but there wasn’t a bad tackle in the game.
“I was really happy with the performance overall.”
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