SPOT OF BOTHER
Ref Clancy says sorry as early whistle denies Killie
AN EXCESSIVELY hasty whistle from Kevin Clancy denied Kilmarnock a Stuart Findlay equalising goal. But so too did a dreadful penalty kick from Danny Armstrong.
And had Ross County striker Jordan White not failed with an astonishing miss at the other end, the spoils might already have been beyond the home team.
The referee’s decision to blow for a spot-kick momentarily before Findlay headed home was the headline moment but you’d struggle to find a man afield who didn’t make a basic mistake in this truly dreadful game of football.
At least Clancy had the grace to apologise. Approached by Killie boss Derek McInnes at the end, he could be seen offering his explanation on the long walk towards the tunnel.
‘Kevin apologised and admitted he made a huge mistake,’ said McInnes later. ‘These guys are serious about their profession so he will not be feeling good about himself.’
There’s scant comfort in the admission for McInnes but neither could he take an awful lot from a performance which was not in keeping with Killie’s bright and promising start to the season.
They missed the influence and presence of skipper Kyle Vassell, whose partner went into labour overnight. And in truth they were played perfectly by a Ross County side who made the journey south intent on performing the role of spoilers.
Prior to kick-off, Malky Mackay made a show of applauding the 106 fans who’d made the Premiership’s longest trip to support their side.
He might also have been offering his own apology for the lack of entertainment that was to follow.
On a beautiful late summer Saturday, the ball took on the role of a missile being sent launched in bombardment by both sets of players.
By taking the plastic out of the equation and drawing their opponents into a horrible war of attrition, County ensured there was never any flow to the game.
The first half saw only one incident of note — and even that turned into the non-event of an over-turned penalty award.
Clancy initially penalised Findlay for an apparent foul on Simon Murray but VAR Greg Aitken’s intervention saw the referee approach the monitor and reverse his decision after review.
Painful to watch, this was also a match that looked sore to play in as players constantly banged into each other or arrived a moment too late.
Of all the players afield, Yan Dhanda was perhaps best equipped to supply a moment of quality. The question was how the County playmaker was ever going to get a moment on the ball to provide it.
A set-piece was always likely to be his best chance and so it proved, a free-kick from wide right affording him the chance to swing over a cross with the right measures of curl and pace to make a striker’s job easy.
Murray (right) was the gleeful recipient, heading home the opener.
County should have made it two when Jack Baldwin — inexplicably positioned high and wide — took advantage of Robbie Deas’ indecision under a high ball and made his way into the box.
The Staggies captain stumbled yet recovered to tee up White with a simple finish from 10 yards.
Dead centre and with only the keeper to beat, the forward lashed his shot over the top.
‘You maybe saw my reaction at that point!’ smiled Mackay. ‘Jack Baldwin did so well to lay it on a plate. It was a striker’s dream and Jordan needs to stick it in the net. ‘I’ve spoken to my strikers because we aren’t being clinical enough.’ That miss almost cost County the win as Killie pushed forward and netted from that pivotal set-piece. The referee did toot before Findlay applied a header to Matty Kennedy’s free-kick, leaving Mackay to praise the whistler for his application of the rules, adding: ‘As soon as he saw it he gave it. That happens before Findlay headed the ball, so it’s a penalty right away. ‘He’s done the correct thing. If I’m Derek I’d be feeling aggrieved but I feel aggrieved every time a penalty is given right now…’ VAR only confused matters, checking the legitimacy of the referee’s decision to penalise a pull by Josh Reid on Brad Lyons. Had Aitken ruled no penalty, then the goal would not have stood.
Eager to get on with business, Armstrong was primed for confirmation of the award. Yet his finish was all power and no accuracy, Laidlaw proving equal to the task of keeping it out with a save to his right.
‘An apology is something,’ added McInnes. ‘He (Clancy) said he wasn’t expecting Findlay to score the goal but it is not his job to expect things.
‘We should be expecting the ref to let the phase of play continue as we are told at every meeting.
‘That is why VAR is supposed to be there. If he has blown before the ball has crossed the line that is a penalty but the laws are wrong and we should be able to reverse it.
‘The first penalty was ridiculous. The boy went down too easy and that was also the wrong decision. Thankfully VAR reversed that.’