Michael Stewart erupts at bizarre Rangers finale as 'strange' ending gets Critchley, Gordon and Hearts bench raging

Michael Stewart said Matthew MacDermid was 'clear as mud' during the bizarre ending to Rangers' 1-0 win over Hearts. And Jambos boss Neil Critchley also hit out at the official for not playing enough stoppage time during the freakish finale at Ibrox.

Hearts were chasing an equaliser at the death in Govan with keeper Craig Gordon up for a free-kick before MacDermid blew the whistle. There were appeals for a foul from the Hearts bench who initially thought they had been awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Gers box. But keeper Gordon was then incensed when ref McDermid, after pausing play to indicate he was listening to his officiating team on his headset, blew for full-time.

There was confusion over what was happening with Hearts appealing for handball, and pundit Stewart, on co-commentary for Premier Sports, let rip live on air. He said: “What is he doing? I don’t think anybody knows. To be honest, I think Dowell’s arm is down near his body, but the referee has been as clear as mud in terms of what was actually going on there.

“If it was full-time, why did he wait at least a minute or so in talking to the players, about something that was immaterial because the game was over. Blow your whistle.”

And speaking after the game, an irked Critchley said: “I’ve not seen it back yet and I don't know if it was in the box or not in the box. But I think the time, three minutes, I thought it should have been longer than that.

“We had seven minutes at St Johnstone last week and I don't remember the physios coming on or anything. Three minutes - I don't know where that's come from. It should have been longer. The players gave everything. They went right to the end.

“We were nearly there. Nearly something dropped for us. We just