Police called in after tunnel brawl

POLICE were forced to intervene to break up a post-match brawl between Hamilton and Hearts players after yesterday’s SPL game.

Three players and a masseur were shown red cards for their part in the fracas, which took place moments after the final whistle at New Douglas Park.

Hearts captain Michael Stewart and defender Ismael Bouzid were both sent off in normal time before the bad blood then spilled over into the tunnel, with Hamilton confirming substitute striker Leon Knight had been disciplined for violent conduct by referee David Somers following a melee involving at least a dozen players.

Hearts believe midfielder Ian Black, winger Suso Santana and masseur Alan Robson were also all dismissed, with Eggert Jonsson cautioned for dissent.

The incident was serious enough to warrant police involvement, it is understood there are no plans to issue charges. The SFA has vowed to launch an investigation.

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo claimed he had never witnessed such scenes as a manager.

“I was never involved in a worse finish than this in all my career,” he said. “Even in the tunnel, I came in and I was pushed left and right.”

The game itself was dramatic enough, with James McArthur’s first goal for exactly a year and Simon Mensing’s fourth of the season putting Hamilton ahead.

Hearts hit back through Jonsson before Stewart saw red – his second of the campaign – for lashing out at Alex Neil.

Meanwhile, Celtic manager Tony Mowbray had no qualms in dropping Lukasz Zaluska for fellow Pole Artur Boruc ahead of the 3-0 win over Aberdeen at Parkhead on Saturday.

Boruc had recovered from the knee operation which opened the door for the former Dundee United player the chance to impress during the previous eight games where he had arguably been Celtic’s most consistent player.

However, with the Poland and Celtic number one fit and ready again, the Parkhead manager swapped the two keepers around for the visit of the Dons.

“They took the news in a very professional way,” Mowbray said. “You make decisions every week.”

A Georgios Samaras double which followed Scott McDonald’s first-half opener leapfrogged Celtic back over Rangers at the top of the table by two points, with the Gers holding a game in hand.

Kris Boyd claims he is not even thinking about being sold by Rangers before he has the chance to break Henrik Larsson’s SPL goalscoring record. The striker bagged a double against Falkirk on Saturday to help seal a 3-1 win and bring his tally of Scottish top-flight strikes to 151 – just seven away from equalling the record held by the Celtic legend.

However, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, speculation continues over his future, with Galatasaray reported to be keen. “The manager has said he didn’t think anybody had to be sold,” said Boyd.