Hopkin fury at spot-kick call

DAVID HOPKIN criticised referee Nick Walsh for the ‘horrific’ penalty decision that wrecked the best efforts of his Ayr United players in yesterday’s Premier Sports Cup spot-kick shoot-out defeat to Dundee United.

The Somerset Park boss was furious at the call to penalise Jack Baird for grappling with Ryan Edwards in the box when not one United man appealed

for a foul. Baird was shown a second yellow card after the award and all Ayr’s momentum was lost with 10 men.

‘The decision to give a penalty was horrific,’ said Hopkin. ‘To then send Jack off makes it even worse.

‘It wasn’t a soft penalty, it was extra soft. It’s never a penalty. The ball is out of the pitch, no one claims for it — and the referee decided to get involved in the game.

‘Dundee United didn’t look like scoring — and only a poor decision was going to change that. It was a really poor decision. I asked the referee but no one gives you an answer.

‘It turned a fantastic cup tie into a training session. My players are well drilled and I knew we still had a chance because I asked them to dig in. But it should never have got to that stage.

‘Benji Siegrist pulled off two world-class saves to keep Dundee United in the game. My goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make but we’re out of the cup.

‘It’s tough to take because we went for United and anyone at the game knows only one team should have won.’