DID SAINTS SIN TO CLINCH THE WIN?
Quaner denies he dived for vital penalty
COLLIN QUANER admits losing a game to the kind of penalty St Mirren were awarded on Saturday would drive him mad — but insists it is wrong to brand him a diver.
The fit-again German, making a first substitute appearance since being injured on his debut last month, left manager Jim Goodwin in a bit of a spot after winning the 82nd-minute penalty that allowed Jamie McGrath to move the Buddies ever closer to securing a top-six finish.
Goodwin, after all, called for the ‘naming and shaming’ of divers just a matter of weeks ago after contentious penalties given against his side in matches with Celtic and Hibernian.
And, whatever Quaner may say, it looked very much like he hung out a leg and threw himself when coming under pressure from young Leo Hjelde as he moved in on goal after latching onto a Jon Obika pass.
Ross County manager John Hughes certainly thought so, branding the award ‘embarrassing’ from the touchline as he made a diving motion in the direction of Greg Aitken with his hands and later claiming the referee had been ‘conned’.
Goodwin himself conceded that it was ‘soft’ and vowed to have a word with Quaner (right) if he felt he had gone down too easily. However, the 29-year-old striker pled innocence last night — even though he conceded he would have hated to have been on the wrong end of a similar decision.
‘Yeah, probably,’ he remarked. ‘As I said, we’ve had the same situation in recent weeks.
‘If I was a Ross County player, I’d be annoyed just in terms of losing the game to a penalty. That’s never nice for any football player.
‘Our manager is always telling us if it gets to defending inside the box, you have to be careful not to make any contact — because, as you see, any single, small contact can lead to a penalty. ‘It’s not my job to make the decision if it was a penalty, but, obviously, I’m quite positive going into the box and there was definitely a contact. Then it’s up to the referee to make the decision. ‘It was definitely not a dive. In the box, every defender knows these days that everyone has to be careful. I am positive I got into the box and felt the contact.’ Hjelde begged to differ. Indeed, the on-loan Celtic defender claims he didn’t touch Quaner at all. ‘I haven’t seen it back yet, but, in the moment, I felt it was a simulation,’ said the 17-year-old Norwegian. ‘I felt that I didn’t even touch him, but that’s the ref’s decision. The boys were devastated he gave the penalty but there is nothing you can do about it once he blows his whistle.
‘We have to use that as motivation and look towards the next game, try and create more chances and score more goals.
‘It is a huge game now next week against Kilmarnock.’
This was cruel on County all right. Sure, they struggled badly in the first half and only went in 0-0 at the break thanks to keeper Ross Laidlaw pulling off a brilliant one-handed save from Conor McCarthy just before the half-hour.
However, Hughes switched things up at the break — bringing on three subs and going to a 3-5-2 — and saw his side twice denied by the woodwork and having one effort cleared off the line. There were also claims that Quaner had handled a Harry Paton corner in the box.
The killer moment for them came on 53 minutes when Jordan White got on the end of a Jason Naismith cross yards from goal and saw Saints No 1 Jak Alnwick somehow push it on to the underside of the crossbar through pure reflex action. When the ball finally made its way back out to Stephen Kelly at the edge of the area, there was further anguish when his piledriver smacked off the bar, too.
Cammy MacPherson cleared Alex Iacovitti’s volley off the line and there was further agony for County in the final minute when Jordan Tillson put the ball wide from a great position.
For County, the battle to avoid relegation goes on. As far as Saints are concerned, one more win looks likely to be enough to make sure they finish the season in the upper half of the Premiership.
‘The lads have been working really hard the whole season to get to where we now are,’ said Quaner. ‘We’re in a good place.’
ST MIRREN (3-1-4-2): Alnwick 8; Fraser 6, McCarthy 7, Shaughnessy 6 (Tait 45); DoyleHayes 6; McAllister 6, McGrath 6, Erhahon 6 (MacPherson 56), Durmus 5 (Flynn 56); Connolly 6 (Quaner 56), Erwin 6 (Obika 56). Subs not used: Lyness, Finlayson, Henderson, Jamieson. Booked: Alnwick. ROSS COUNTY (4-4-1-1): Laidlaw 8; Naismith 7, Watson 6, Hjelde 6, Tremarco 6 (Iacovitti 45); Spittal 5 (Tillson 63), Kelly 6, Lakin 5 (Paton 67), Gardyne 5 (Shaw 45); Andreu 5 (Donaldson 45); White 5. Subs not used: Hilton, Draper, Mckay, Hylton. Booked: Tremarco. Man of the match: Jak Alnwick. Referee: Greg Aitken.