Penalty punishment is hard to handle
RULES, they say, are there to be broken. Sometimes, however, rules leave you broken-hearted. As witnessed by Arbroath on Saturday when, chasing a late equaliser against Dunfermline, they were hammered by the latest legislation on handball. At 2-1 down, after Dale Hilson had scored to claw back earlier Pars efforts from Ryan Dow and Euan Murray, the Red Lichties still had a chance. But there was little home defender Ricky Little could do when Dow’s low strike cannoned off his hand, and unsympathetic official Nick Walsh awarded their Championship rivals a penalty.
Kevin O’Hara stepped up to slam home and book Dunfermline’s spot in the last eight. And even Dow admitted he felt for the hosts. ‘To be fair, if it had been given against us I wouldn’t have been happy either,’ said the Pars star. ‘I was the only person who shouted for it and that was maybe only because I was so tired I couldn’t run any more. ‘It’s happened to me before — not for a penalty — but if your hands are by your side in normal play, it’s a free-kick. ‘It’s really harsh when it’s a penalty but it’s the rule, there’s nothing you can do about it. ‘Kevin stepped up to tuck it away, that’s nine wins in ten and our confidence is growing.’ Dow was outstanding for Stevie Crawford’s men, dancing past Colin Hamilton to fire beyond Derek Gaston for the lead. Dow then set up the second as his corner was met by Paul Watson, his header poorly dealt with, allowing stopper Murray to nip in for his seventh goal in ten games. Arbroath came back strong after the break with subs Bobby Linn and Hilson causing the visitors problems down the flanks, the latter pulling one back from close range. But the controversial penalty killed them off as O’Hara sent Gaston the wrong way. Arbroath midfielder James Craigen said: ‘I don’t like to moan about refs but I wasn’t too impressed with his performance for a number of reasons. ‘We did well to get to the last 16 though, and as a club, we’ve come on leaps and bounds.’