Well, they say there is always an exception to the rule and that exception was at Fir Park on Saturday…
Last weekend Dundee United were denied a stonewall penalty against Celtic, the week before Hamilton were allowed to punch their way into a 2-1 lead, but this weekend against Motherwell….. nothing!
Finally, a Scottish referee managed to get through an entire 90-minutes of football, without becoming the centre of attention in a Dundee United match.
You could almost say that Dundee United benefitted from a couple of refereeing decisions at the weekend, as Motherwell had several penalty claims, though some of them were quite soft.
Motherwell did eventually get a penalty, but Chris Porter was unable to beat Zaluska in the United goal and the score ended at 1-1.
However, it was a completely different story in the rest of the SPL, as referee Iain Brines is accused of being a Celtic supporter by Falkirk striker Michael Higdon, after a controversial match at Parkhead.
First Brines managed to miss Stephen McManus imitation Hamilton`s goal from the other week, by handling the ball into the back of the net to give Celtic the lead, but the free-kick that lead to the goal also looked a little suspect.
Then, at half-time Brines accused Falkirk box John Hughes of breaking the rules of his touchline ban, by going into the dressing room, even though he had done nothing wrong.
“I don’t mind losing but I want to go down fairly and squarely,” Hughes told the Daily Record after the match… sounds very familiar, almost exactly what Craig Levein said after the Celtic game the previous weekend.
Result:
Celtic= 2 Decisions For (Dodgy freekick and handballed goal)
Falkirk= 2 Decisions Against (as above)
Meanwhile, one of the Old Firm sides got a taste of their own medicine at Pittodrie, as Rangers were denied a winning goal, after a blunder from the assistant referee.
Marcus Beasley thought he`d seal the late winner for Rangers, but his goal was incorrectly ruled offside, when it was only Kris Boyd who was in an offside position.
Did referee Craig Thomson overrule the decision…. well, surprisingly not on this occasion, but there was an incident at Ibrox last season against Dundee United when an offside decision by the linesman was overruled by the referee, even though 2 Rangers players were interfering with play…. aaaah, justice!
Result:
Aberdeen= 1 Decisions For (Offside goal)
Rangers= 1 Decisions Against (as above)
Well, so far Eddie Smith, Iain Brines, Charlie Richmond and Craig Thomson have all managed to influence the outcome of a match, by blundering through a handful of decisions already this season.
Match changing decisions resulted in a draw for Rangers and a win for Celtic, but how does that affect our leader board???
To see the ‘Ref Watch’ league table after Weekend 3, Click Here
To see the ‘Ref Watch’ archive, Click Here
More Ref Watch next week…..probably!!!
