Hamilton Accies 1 Morton 1: Raging boss Rankin sees red as 10-man Accies held to draw in opener

Raging Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin was sent off for having a pop at referee Mike Roncone during their controversial Championship draw with Morton.

In his first league match at the helm, Rankin saw red for a half-time rant at Roncone, who had awarded a penalty against Accies moments earlier and sent off defender Shaun Want.

Want's challenge appeared to be outside the box and it is thought Rankin was venting his frustration at the decision.

Accies had started well and took the lead through Andy Ryan after 11 minutes

But they were reduced to 10 men in 39 minutes when Want was shown a second booking for a foul on Jaze Kabia that looked outside the box.

Ex-Accies Grant Gillespie converted the spot-kick and things only got worse for Accies when furious Rankin was given his marching orders.

In the second half, Accies pushed for a winner despite their numerical disadvantage and even had a penalty claim of their own waved away by Roncone, who dished out nine yellow cards and one red on the day, but they had to settle for a point.

Accies named the same side which performed well in a 1-1 draw with Queen's Park in the Premier Sports Cup last week, but they were without

A very early scuffle inside 14 seconds when Want went in late on Lewis Strapp prompted referee Roncone to go to his pocket once both sets of players had been separated.

Both sides were clearly up for the occasion but it was Accies who struck first.

Steve Lawson floated an out-swinging corner towards the centre of the box to pick out Brian Easton in acres of space. The Accies skipper powered a header towards the far post and Ryan was able to nod the ball home for his third goal in four games.

Seven minutes later Accies had a huge escape when a delivery into the