‘The red mist descended’
MacKenzie calls foul over ref’s decision to allow United goal
Gary MacKenzie was the walking wounded on Saturday as he showed off his battle scars.
But it wasn’t with a sense of pride, but simply out of a feeling of injustice.
The St Mirren defender was crudely brought down in the buildup to Dundee United’s seventh minute opener at the weekend as Thomas Mikkelson’s goal, and challenge, drew ire from everyone associated with the Saints.
MacKenzie admits he is old enough and experienced enough to take each decision as it comes, but even he conceded that he struggled to control his emotions after seeing ref Craig Charleston allowing the goal to stand ... especially after Mikkelson himself admitted it was a free-kick
MacKenzie said: “The first goal was a clear foul but the ref didn’t see it that way.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know it was even a goal. I was just lying on the deck.
“I thought the noise from the crowd was for the foul not being given and then I got up and saw that he had given the goal to United.
“The red mist came down for the following five minutes as to how he actually allowed it to stand.
“It was just disbelief that he hadn’t given the foul because I took the ball down on the chest and Mikkelson just cracked me.
“The fella himself admitted it was a foul, but you can’t take the goal back.”
Despite the whirlwind start that saw Saints fall behind, the side managed to regroup before MacKenzie levelled the scores at the other end.
The goals continued to rain in but it was United’s Blair Spittal who had the final say in the 90th minute as he slotted home the winner for the hosts.
MacKenzie admitted that it could have been a win for his side on another day, but rued another missed opportunity to come away with three points.
He added: “At half-time we felt we could go on and win the game.
“The game could have gone either way, but we made some unfortunate decisions that changed that.
“I don’t think they cut us open or caused us too many problems.
“Bad decisions caused us two goals and we are all really disappointed in the manner of the last goals.”