Hibs boss Nick Montgomery unhappy with officials after draw with Ross County

Hibernian boss Nick Montgomery was left furious that a refereeing mistake cost his side all three points against Ross County.

Hibs had come from behind to lead, with Myziane Maolida and Adam Le Fondre scoring after Josh Sims’ opener, only for Yan Dhanda to strike with practically the final kick of the game and rescue a 2-2 draw for County.

Montgomery, though, felt that the final goal stemmed from a County throw-in that should have gone Hibs’ way, and was frustrated that what he saw as a mistake by the officials proved so costly to his team.

“We just lost two points we shouldn’t have lost,” he said.

“We dominated the game in the second half and got back into the game, and should have won it.

“A Ross County defender heads it out for our throw-in. I think everyone can see that, and their defender starts heading backwards – but somehow they pick up another ball 10 yards down the pitch, throw it back in and we concede.

“We have to pick out several moments for not defending that, but we lose two points and it’s really disappointing and frustrating.

“We have to be responsible for not defending our box, even though we should not have had to.

“We should be good enough to win anyway, but we also should not have to defend the throw-in.

“We’ve got another game before the international break at home, so we’ll prepare for that now and aim to get three points on Saturday.”

Montgomery’s opposite number Don Cowie, meanwhile, felt County showed plenty of character to come back and salvage a point when it looked as though they would come away empty-handed.

“It backs up what I already know about the character of the group,” Cowie said.

“It looked like the game had got away from us, but you have to keep going. That point could be invaluable come the end of the season.

“We’re disappointed to let our lead slip from half-time, but we showed great character to get a point in the end.

“That’s the last three home games where I’ve felt comfortable at half-time, so it’s something I’ve got to look at.

“Naturally the opposition is going to respond, but we need to be ready for that and we need to get better at that.”