HIBERNIAN head coach Alan Stubbs claimed referee John Beaton spoiled their 1-0 William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round replay win over Hearts by issuing red cards to both sides.
Jason Cummings, who scored in the first encounter at Tynecastle when the Leith side had come from two down to draw 2-2, was booked for celebrating his fourth-minute strike in front of the visiting fans at Easter Road.
In a frenetic second-half, Jambos defender Blazej Augustyn, booked in the first-half for a foul on Liam Henderson, picked up a second yellow in the 75th minute for throwing the ball away at a Hibs free-kick. Moments later, Cummings joined him down the tunnel after picking up another booking, apparently for kicking the ball away, as Jambos players surrounded Beaton.
Asked if the Hearts players had instigated Beaton's decision to send-off Cummings, Stubbs said: "There was an element of that. I thought the sending-offs actually spoilt the game a little bit.
"I thought they were soft red cards in the end. I don't want to see any players sent-off. I just thought it affected the momentum of the game for both teams I think, in the first one, you are always running the risk, but I didn't think he [Cummings] did anything wrong apart from stand there. He didn't make any actions towards the fans, he stayed on the pitch, which is what you are supposed to do.
"For the second one, I think he was booked for booting the ball away, but I am led to believe he was actually looking to fetch the ball and didn't boot the ball away. I am obviously guessing a little from what people are saying, but I thought it was a bit harsh. But we won and we are delighted."
Stubbs was pleased by the way his Championship side battled to hold on to their lead against their city rivals to set up a quarter-final tie against holders Inverness: "It is a great result for the players and the club, but we had to dig deep tonight to come through," he said.
"Hearts put us under pressure in the second-half, but we managed to contend with it and get the result we all wanted. I said it would be a close game, two good teams, but we created the clearer chances in the game and we had to deal with some difficult balls into the box and defend properly and I knew there would be times when we would be under pressure.
"But there is no denying they are a good team. We have just beaten the third-best team in the country at this moment in time."
In a pulsating cup tie, Hearts had the ball in the net twice, from Abiola Dauda and Juanma Delgado, only to see the flag up. That added to the frustration of head coach Robbie Neilson, who admitted his side should have seen the tie out at Tynecastle when they were two ahead.
He said: "I don't think Blazej's is a sending-off. He throws it back in the direction of where the free-kick is.
"It's a decision that's been made - it's not going to change by me sitting here speaking about it. We've had two goals chalked off and a man sent-off. We battled away and kept going, pushing and pushing to try and get a result, but we didn't manage it in the end. Now, we need to bounce back.
"I'm disappointed after every defeat and this was a big game for us. You have to take the highs and the lows. The tie, for us, was probably lost in the last 10 minutes at Tynecastle. We didn't see it out. We lost two goals and had to come here tonight."
