RAGING right back Michael Doyle could not hide his frustration after being on the wrong end of a spot-kick decision during Saturday’s 3-0 William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat away to Celtic.

Ton star Doyle was adjudged by referee John Beaton to have impeded Hoops striker Moussa Dembele’s route to goal in the 62nd minute.

Beaton deemed that Doyle’s right leg caught the Frenchman inside the penalty area - but television replays clearly showed afterwards that the tackle was made outside the box.

Dembele stepped up and made it 2-0 from the spot, before countryman Odsonne Edouard completed the scoring in the 90th minute.

But Doyle, 26, was left bewildered by the whistler’s decision.
He told Tele Sport: “It’s disappointing. The first goal was a crucial one to lose- from a corner. It’s not ideal.

“We pride ourselves on setting up well for corners and that second goal killed the game.

“I could not believe he gave a penalty. I don’t know what was happening because I made the tackle but I didn’t actually move from when I made it, which is frustrating.

“Common knowledge tells you it’s not a sliding tackle. I’ve just gone in, and I’m not saying it’s not a foul, it was, but to give a penalty was wrong.

“The referee looked as confused as we were and I’m thinking if it’s that close and you’re not 100 per cent, then I don’t think you can give a penalty.

“But sometimes, when you come to places like this, Celtic get the breaks like that. The second goal, the penalty, is just the wrong decision. I don’t think it’s even close to being the right decision.

“Even if they got a free-kick and still put it in the top corner then everyone is talking about something else.”

Ton manager Jim Duffy was full of praise for his Ton battlers but did concede that the second half penalty decision was “contentious.”

He said: “I think it was a bit contentious, the second goal. It looked as if it [the foul] was outside the box.

“I’m not saying we would have got back into the game but it gave Celtic that bit more time to relax and control the game, whereas when it’s still at 1-0, there’s always that wee chance you can maybe catch an opportunity or an error.

“I can understand why the referee has given it. I’m not overly criticising him but it’s a big decision so if it is wrong, then it’s disappointing.”

Despite the disappointment of the penalty decision, Doyle reckons Ton gave the treble-chasers a real game of it on Saturday, especially in the first 45.

He said: “I hope that penalty decision does not overshadow how organised we were, especially in the first half.

“We obviously frustrated Celtic enough in that they had to change their tactics and they had to bring another striker on because we were so well organised and hard to break down.

“But that shows their quality in that they can change their formation like that and take boys like [Scott] Sinclair off and put [Odsonne] Edouard on, so we can leave with our heads held high and I’d like to think we gave a good account of ourselves. 

“We were resilient for as long as we could be.”