Owen Coyle vents frustration after Ross County defeat to Hamilton

Ross County manager Owen Coyle struggled to contain his emotions after a controversial 3-2 defeat at Hamilton.

Match officials and stewards had to step in when players and coaches clashed in the final seconds before referee Gavin Duncan flashed a straight red card to Ioannis Skondras for his bust-up with County's Kenny van der Weg and Chris Routis.

He had earlier dismissed County's Michael Gardyne after 86 minutes for a second booking plus awarded a penalty to each team and booked a flurry of players.

Coyle said: ''Where do you want to start?

I am the first to hold my hand up when I am beaten by someone better on the day, but nothing could be further from the truth.

I have been involved in the game for a long, long time and that was certainly one of the biggest travesties ever.

I am always loathe to be critical of officials because they have such a tough job but, my goodness....some of the key decisions.

See the little bitty fouls, there is no problem with them. The throw ins and free-kicks, we all get them and on the halfway line, we get that.

But the major decisions affect games. Goals change games and every one of them...the first one for me, the penalty (decision) Dougie Imrie is already on the way down before there is any contact but he (the referee) has given it.

The third one Dougie Imrie actually slips which leads to the free-kick.

It actually hits Jamie Lindsay on the back while he is on the ground because he has actually been pushed to the ground by two hands in the box.

Listen, I could say a lot more but I am trying to keep my temper in check because some of the stuff that went on it was there for everyone to see.

In my opinion, without trying to sound biased some of the stuff that went against us was incredible.''

Coyle criticised his own players' part in the melee in the closing stages of the fiery encounter.

He added: ''It is an emotional game and we feel aggrieved at that particular time in the game, but that is when you still have to keep your temper in check, your discipline, whatever you want to call it.''

Hamilton boss Martin Canning was relieved to win the game.

He said: ''The most important thing was to take three points given the magnitude of the game against a team below us which we had to go and win.

You could see with the confrontation at the end that it means a lot to both teams who understood the importance of the game and a win.

It looked like handbags (the late bust-up). It has happened and we move on.

The boy shoved Ioannis aggressively. He has not done a lot wrong initially, but gets pushed by someone which gets his back up and he tries to push him back.

I don't think it was the referee's best game. Thankfully we came out on top and you don't get as frustrated when that happens. ''