Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Ref doesn’t know rules, fumes Rhys
AIRDRIEONIANS.....................................2 AYR UNITED.............................................3
Paul Thomson at New Broomfield
Airdrie boss Rhys Mccabe has blasted referee Alan Muir and told him to do his homework on the laws of the game after claiming Ayr’s controversial winner should never have stood.
And Mccabe says the whistler ignored pleas during the Championship clash to disallow Anton Dowds’winning strike, which saw him complete a hat-trick in a 3-2 win.
The Diamonds were trailing 2-1 to a Dowds double when the controversy arose in the 78th minute, after goalkeeper Josh Rae was judged to have handled the ball outside his box.
Referee Muir booked Rae for the offence, but in the process allowed Ayr to take a quick in-direct free-kick which saw Logan Chalmers tee up Dowds to curl the ball beyond Rae, who was attempting to return to his goal.
That left Mccabe fuming and also led to substitute goalkeeper David Hutton and coach Bryan Prunty picking up yellow cards for their protests.
Mccabe said:“i couldn’t tell if Josh was in or out of his box because of the angle I was at.
“But what I will say - and this is fact - when the referee books Josh, he has to allow Josh time to get back in his goal.
“He can’t allow a short free-kick - that is the rules of the game.
“That is the reason why, during the celebrations, so many of the boys are going up to the referee and trying to explain that to him.
“It’s not the referee’s fault we’ve lost the game - I thought he was poor today - but the reason we got so irate is because you need to know the laws of the game, especially as the referee. You are the official.
“By the laws of the game - and if the referee does his homework and studies the laws of the game like he should be doing - if you book a goalkeeper, you must allow him time to get back in goal. “That is the law but he didn’t do that. “He has quickly showered and gone home because I think he knows the mistake he made. That is frustrating but it’s not the reason we’ve lost the game.”
The Diamonds were the architects of their own downfall with Cammy Ballantyne’s error in the eighth minute pounced upon by Jamie Murphy, who slipped in Dowds to bag his first goal.
Airdrie pulled one back in 25 minutes when a fine piece of skill from Mason Hancock saw him nutmeg Scott Tomlinson before picking out Ballantyne to smash in the equaliser.
Four minutes into the second half, Watson lost possession and Murphy and Dowds again capitalised to combine and score.
In 78 minutes Ayr got what proved to be the winner, before Watson’s finish in 84 minutes made them sweat for the points.