MACKAY FUMES AT REF STANDARDS AS STAGGIES SUFFER
ROSS COUNTY boss Malky Mackay claims games in Scotland are being refereed at a different standard compared to Europe after Kevin van Veen’s
99th-minute penalty kept his side deep in relegation trouble.
The Staggies were already angered after having a spot-kick awarded following half-time when Connor Randall fell to the ground, only for the officials to overturn the decision.
County substitute Owura Edwards was shown a second yellow card at the start of 12 minutes of stoppage time as they tried to hang on to a precious point. But, following another VAR check, County captain Keith Watson was penalised for handball.
Van Veen converted for the ninth top-flight game in a row to score his 27th goal of the season. The Dutchman is one strike short of matching former Celtic striker Mark Viduka’s tally of netting in 10 consecutive matches.
Mackay, whose side are still in the relegation play-off spot, said: ‘The bar has been changed in Europe because there was an appeal in the Champions League that wasn’t even looked at. But here, every time the ref goes to the monitor they don’t stand by their decision.
‘They are changing it and there is nobody saying: “I’ve seen it in real time”. I would hope there are internal discussions between the refs, the supervisor and the SFA. And I would hope the clubs are involved as there is a lot of discord and the “clear and obvious” thing isn’t working properly.
‘Could it come too late for us? Yeah, completely, and there’s nothing I can do about that.’
County thought they had been presented with a glorious chance to take the lead shortly after the break when Randall fell to the turf under pressure from Calum Butcher in the box. But after a delay, referee Euan Anderson was advised by VAR Willie Collum to take a look at the monitor and the decision was eventually overturned. ‘The ref thinks it was a stonewall penalty and those were his exact words because I went on to the pitch at the end to ask him,’ said Mackay.
‘My bugbear is that he made a genuine error by not letting the move finish because he blows the whistle before the ball breaks to George Harmon, who then kicks it over the bar.
‘He’s made an error and he admitted that to me, because he’d thought it was such a stonewall penalty. Most managers in the Premiership I speak to can’t believe where the bar has been set for these decisions in this country compared to what we see in England.’
Edwards, who came on with 13 minutes left, picked up a second yellow card — and his third red this season — for a trip on Dean Cornelius.
Worse was to follow when, deep into stoppage time, Watson was penalised for handball after a scramble in the box.
Anderson gave the spot-kick after checking the monitor and Van Veen did the rest.
‘It makes it sickening when, in the 96th minute, the ball strikes Keith Watson’s hand when he’s not even looking at it and it flicks up against him,’ added Mackay.
‘I spoke to Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly and he couldn’t believe they gave a penalty for that. I’d also be interested to discover how many other games have had 12 minutes of added time this season.’
Hailing Van Veen, Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell said: ‘It’s an amazing record, of course it is, but I have to keep coming back to the squad and the players, it’s not just about Kev scoring goals.’