Declan Devine slams 'horrendous performance by the officials' as Glentoran denied late on
Glentoran manager Declan Devine has slammed a “horrendous performance by the officials” after his side were denied victory at Premiership leaders Larne by a late Andy Ryan penalty.
Paul O’Neill put the Inver Reds ahead from the spot after 21 minutes before the Glens roared back through Pat Hoban’s brace either side of the break.
Hoban was then shown a straight red card and there was further drama in injury time when MJ Kamson-Kamara was adjudged to have handled the ball inside his own box – Ryan keeping his cool to slot home an equaliser.
The 2-2 draw extends Larne’s unbeaten home league run this term to 14 matches – they’re currently 18 unbeaten in the Premiership going back to October 4.
There was a further blow for the Glens after the full-time whistle as Ryan Cooney was sent off, and Devine was left furious with events at Inver Park.
"It's an outstanding performance from us and a horrendous performance by the officials,” he told the club’s media channel, “Andy Mills, it looks a penalty initially (for O’Neill’s goal), but he gets the first touch, there's no handball in the second one, and if Pat Hoban's is a sending off when a man is grabbing him and he pushes his hand away, then I don't know the game anymore.
"I'm so angry...the decisions that went against us tonight are diabolical and I'm not surprised, that's the bottom line.
"When referees are telling your first team coach at half-time that he knows more about the game than you, then that sets up the arrogance of it all. It's not acceptable when there's so much at stake and I have to be careful, but it's just not acceptable.”
Glentoran remain 13 points adrift of Larne and are now seven behind second-placed Coleraine in the race for automatic European football – they have three matches in hand on the Bannsiders.
No team has collected more points on the road this term than the Glens (29) with Devine’s men also the highest scorers (27) on their travels.
"I'm proud of the players,” added Devine. “We've hit the post, Pat has a good chance with a header in the first half, we've had one cleared off the line - I thought we really played on the front foot and took the game to them.
"The game is defined by fine margins and the players were outstanding with 10 men, we dug in, defended our box really well and didn't feel like we were under any real pressure.
"To give a penalty...it's just not a penalty, and to give a second one, it's just incredible. I'm not surprised.
"There's a lot of football to be played, the players have showed they can go toe-to-toe with anybody and there were a lot of big performances.
"Then to send Ryan Cooney off after the game, it just puts the icing on the cake for them. I'm sure they'll be happy they're in the spotlight, but for us it's back to the drawing board and keep doing what we're doing.
"You can't legislate for some of the decisions and we end up talking about the officials, not two outstanding teams going toe-to-toe."