Hearts engage with authorities over decisions that saw Cammy Devlin sent off

Hearts have assured their fans they are engaging with the authorities over the decisions that saw Cammy Devlin handed a costly red card at Hampden.

Devlin received a second yellow card two minutes before Oday Dabbagh struck a late extra-time winner to send Aberdeen into the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final on Saturday.

The Australia international was penalised by referee John Beaton after going to clear the ball and catching Dante Polvara as the Aberdeen midfielder stuck a boot in to nick the ball away.

The decision meant Hearts were down to nine men after Michael Steinwender had been shown a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity after bringing down Topi Keskinen in the 43rd minute.

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley was also frustrated at that decision and accused Beaton of showing him a lack of respect after approaching him immediately after the 2-1 semi-final defeat.

The club have now added their voice to the criticism as they thanked the 22,000 fans for their support at Hampden, on the back of the team’s failure to make the William Hill Premiership top six.

A club statement read: “While we give credit to Aberdeen for making the most of their opportunity in the 118th minute to win the tie, we take issue with the refereeing decision immediately preceding it.

“It is the club’s view that neither yellow card issued to Cammy Devlin in the match was warranted and we should not have been put in the position of having to finish the game with nine men, which directly affected the outcome.

“Saturday came on the back of other decisions this season that have also not gone in our favour.

“It is often quoted that errors generally balance themselves out across a season.

“However, a cursory glance at the KMI Review Panel published reports show that we have benefited once from errors in our favour – the joint second lowest in the Premiership – and have suffered four errors against – the joint second highest in the Premiership.

“Public silence on our part should not be mistaken for inaction.

“Throughout the season we have maintained dialogue with the Scottish FA on these matters and while we always prefer to air our grievances in private, on this occasion, given the magnitude of the occasion that was a Scottish Cup semi-final and what was at stake, we believe that the club and, most importantly, its supporters deserve better.

“Once again, we will engage with the Scottish FA in an attempt to understand why these decisions are made, see acknowledgement as to when they are indeed wrong and determine what can be done to learn from them to ensure that they are not repeated.

“When circumstances are under our control, we will do our best to act appropriately.

“The club has recently publicly declared that this season has not been good enough and it is our intention not to see it repeated.

“When circumstances are outwith our control, such as refereeing decisions, then our supporters should know that be it publicly or privately, we will always challenge for the benefit of the club and its fans, because as owners, they deserve to have their voices heard.”