Robins joy is real face of game so let’s embrace it

TWO high-profile matches north and south of the border, two contrasting images.

The good, the bad, and the ugly of football. Let’s deal with the bad and the ugly first shall we?

Partick Thistle’s Gary Fraser stupidly leathered the ball into the main stand at Parkhead during the Jags’ 2-0 Premiership defeat by Celtic on Wednesday night.

Cue mayhem. The incident sparked outrage from Hoops fans who now want Fraser banned and the police involved.

The footage shows Fraser aggressively firing the ball into the crowd but in his defence he was aiming for the advertising hoardings.

His actions were borne out of sheer frustration so spare me the public hanging of the boy down the Gallowgate guff.

Somebody could have been seriously injured or hurt because of what Fraser did but thankfully no one was.

The boy made an error of judgment and it was reckless as a ball fired at high speed can be a weapon.

But I’m with Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers on this one – give Fraser the benefit of the doubt.

The Jags midfielder was stupid and I am sure after the publicity it has attracted nobody regrets his actions more than the player himself.

It is not as if he has gone full Eric Cantona, jumped into the stand and booted a spectator with a kung fu kick. Although judging by some of the over-reaction you’d think he had.

The game in Scotland loves to tear itself apart over this sort of incident. Small wonder our game is treated with disdain in Europe.

This is supposed to be the season of goodwill so let’s extend that to Fraser and move on – there’s not much to see here really.

By contrast the English League Cup quarter-final clash between Bristol City and Manchester United reminded us of how good the beautiful game can be.

Korey Smith’s dramatic last-gasp winner for the Robins sparked scenes of delirium at Ashton Gate.

The mood was captured perfectly on camera when ex-Killie and Hearts star Lee Johnson ran down the touchline and celebrated with the ball-boy.

It was a joyous celebration as the City boss swung the ball-boy round like a proud dad would his own kid.

It was a genuinely heart-warming and great moment in sport.

Johnson’s men now look forward to a David v Goliath semi-final clash against Manchester City and, having downed the Red Devils, who is to say they can’t complete the fairytale and reach the final at the expense of Pep Guardiola’s men?

The League Cup has been kind to Johnson on both sides of the border.

He was a winner of the Scottish variety back in

The game in Scotland loves to tear itself apart over this sort of incident

2012 when Kilmarnock stunned Celtic in the Hampden final.

In fact, it was Johnson who crossed for Belgian Dieter van Tornhout to head home the only goal of the game as the Rugby Park men produced a stunning and unlikely triumph.

Now Johnson can utilise all that experience as he dares to dream about achieving English League Cup success with unfashionable City, only this time as a boss.

Do yourself a favour and watch the YouTube clips of Johnson and the Robins ball-boy.

If those pictures and scenes fail to put a smile on your face especially at this time of year then you truly are a Grinch.

There’s no place for such negativity . . . or maybe there is – it’s called Scottish football.