Following the abysmal performances of Stevie McLean and Craig Thomson at Hampden last weekend Brian Colvin took the refereeing spotlight yesterday at the Livingston v Hearts match.
With three red cards in his precious seven matches Colvin isn’t afraid to stamp his authority on games but his judgement at Almondvale yesterday left a lot to be desired.
Hearts were leading 1-0 when Livi skipper Jason Talbot lunged carelessly into a challenge with his boot following through to catch Sam Nicholson on the side of the face.
Colvin was within ten yards of the incident but only produced a yellow card with Nicholson forced to leave the pitch. After the match he was pictured with one set of stitches and four separate cuts on the right side of his face.
Hearts won the match 3-2 to stretch their lead over Sevco to 19 points but that didn’t dampen the anger of Robbie Nielsen after the match.
The Hearts boss said: “Sam is going to be OK, but he has three or four puncture marks on his face. It wasn’t a great tackle and I’ve let the referee know my views on it.
“The games from now until the end of the season are going to be really tough, tense and tight. We are playing against teams who are desperate to beat us.”
Colvin did issue seven other yellow cards with Hearts substitute Brad Mackay red carded in the 90th minute- two minutes after coming on!
Hearts meet Livingston at Tynecastle next Saturday the day after Hibs visit Ibrox.
