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Dunfermline Athletic to seek Willie Collum talks as Neil Lennon brands Championship refereeing ‘abysmal’

The Pars lost 1-0 against their relegation rivals to drop to ninth in the Championship.

Dunfermline Athletic boss Neil Lennon shouts from the sidelines.
Dunfermline boss Neil Lennon. Image: Ross Parker / SNS Group.

Dunfermline are to seek talks with the Scottish FA after Neil Lennon raised question marks over another refereeing performance in their defeat to Hamilton Accies.

The Pars went down to a 41st-minute Reghan Tumilty strike in a massive relegation clash in front of a bumper crowd of 7,636 to slip back into ninth in the Championship.

Worryingly, they are now just three points above bottom side Airdrie and two adrift of Accies in eighth and three below next week’s opponents, Queen’s Park.

Lennon had praise for his side’s whole-hearted display – but was critical of referee Euan Anderson.

Dunfermline had a Lewis McCann strike chalked off four minutes after the restart, which Lennon claims was ‘a perfectly good goal’.

Reghan Tumilty runs away to celebrate Hamilton Accies' winning goal against the Pars.
Former Raith Rovers defender Reghan Tumilty was Hamilton Accies’ match-winner. Image: Ross Parker / SNS Group.

And he felt the Fifers could also have had a penalty seven minutes later when Ephraim Yeboah appeared to be pushed over in the box.

“It was a disappointing result,” admitted Lennon, who earned his first win as Pars boss against Livingston in midweek. “But the performance was good. I thought we dominated the game.

“I thought we had good chances. It’s probably symptomatic of our season that we’re not taking the chances.

“But I have to say, we had a perfectly good goal disallowed.

“Lewis has got a touch there first. He’s beat the goalkeeper to the ball, from what we can see on the camera.

Lennon: ‘I think he’s guessed’

“How the referee decides that’s a foul… I think he’s guessed more than anything else.

“But there were a lot of things going on in the game today that I didn’t like.

That’s three games now I’ve been at this level and the standard of refereeing has been abysmal.”

Asked if his side should also have had a spot-kick, he responded: “Possibly, possibly. He [Yeboah] has backed in and then he’s got two hands in the back.

“You’re asking me about it because you’re thinking it looks a penalty. It looks a penalty to everybody else.

Neil Lennon kicks a water bottle in the East End Park technical area.
Dunfermline boss Neil Lennon shows his frustration on the sidelines. Image: Ross Parker / SNS Group.

“I don’t know if Hamilton beat us today or the referee’s decisions beat us today.”

Lennon was booked in the second-half when his frustrations boiled over.

“Honestly, it’s just Mickey Mouse stuff,” added the former Celtic and Hibernian manager about his caution.

“I’ve seen some strange decisions this week already. And a lot of them have gone against my team.

“So, we are going to talk to [SFA head of referee operations] Willie Collum about it. We have to. It’s not good enough.”

Lennon: ‘We’ve got to stay patient’

With four games remaining to secure their Championship status, just six points now separate the bottom four in the division.

But victory over Queen’s Park next Saturday would take Dunfermline over their Hampden hosts.

“It’s still really tight between four or five teams. So, it’s just as you were really.

“We’ve got four games to go and we’ve got to try and win as many as we can.

“We’re enjoying it. It’s exciting. It’s going to flip-flop week to week. So we’ve just got to stay patient and get the players as ready as they can be.”

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