BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
NEIL LENNON last night labelled Kudus Oyenuga an “embarrassment” and accused Morton boss Jim Duffy of challenging him to a fight.
A seemingly tame 0-0 stalemate at Easter Road erupted into mayhem in injury time when Oyenuga barrelled through Jordon Forster, prompting a melee involving most of the players and both sets of coaching staff.
The Morton striker fell to the turf amid the brawl, claiming to have been head-butted by Darren McGregor and – when the dust settled – Lennon, Duffy, Oyenuga and McGregor were all sent off by referee Nick Walsh.
An absolutely irate Lennon fumed: “The guy [Oyenuga] tried to break my player’s leg, then Darren McGregor goes over to him – and he feigns a head-butt, holding his face when Darren made no contact.
“Then the next thing I’ve got the Morton manager asking for a square go – fair enough, I won’t back down – their assistant manager, and their players coming at me.
“But it’ll be ‘bad old Lenny, Lenny’s fault’. Rubbish! I reacted in the way any manager would. It was disgraceful and the boy’s behaviour was embarrassing.
“He tried to break my player’s leg then got my captain sent off in an act of cowardice. I have to take that? No, sorry. No wonder I was angry.
“I’m not having that. He [Duffy] has come all the way from his technical area to mine. I didn’t do anything but shout at his player, which I had every right to do. He would do the exact same thing.”
Duffy sought to play down the incident, but added: “They [Hibs bench] were up over the top of our player and the ref was going to deal with it anyway. It’s not something you like to see.”
