Airdrie boss in astonishing ref rant as he blasts 'appalling' display from 'centre of attention' official

Airdrie player-boss Rhys McCabe blasted ref Ross Hardie after they battled out a dramatic draw with Dunfermline.

The Diamonds had keeper Josh Rae sent off in 82 minutes for a foul on Craig Wighton in the box, with the score locked level at 1-1 after Nikolay Todorov's header had cancelled out Ben Stanway's opener for the visitors.

But Diamonds sub keeper David Hutton produced a heroic save from the resultant penalty to deny Kyle Benedictus and earn them a point against the league leaders.

Hardie was in the firing line post-match after five yellows, one red and a sending off for Pars No.2 Dave Mackay in the final moments.

And McCabe - whose side lost 4-3 to the Pars last week with 10 men - didn't hold back in his assessment of the whistler and his assistants.

He fumed: "I am sick of biting my tongue.

"There's a reason these referees are getting relegated to the Lowland League every single week.

"And I'm not just saying that from an Airdrie standpoint.

"Decisions and the level of inconsistency throughout the game for both sides is appalling.

"At the penalty, you can clearly see that Wighton is looking for the ball and he actually kicks Josh and dives six feet in the air.

"The ref couldn't be any quicker to get the red card out.

"But we dealt with it, as we have done on many occasions this season.

"I don't know how close Callum Fordyce's header is in the first half but it looked clearly over the line as well."

He continued: "My concern is that referees always make the game about themselves.

"I find that a good referee makes the game flow. Good or bad, you can speak to him in a manner that gives a bit of respect, you do the same back.

"But too often these days, referees make it all about them and they are the centre of