Ball opens up on semi red

Dom Ball will never forget his first red card.

But it isn’t the media storm that followed his devastating aerial challenge on Ryan Christie at Hampden that has seared the incident into the Aberdeen star’s mind.

It isn’t even the accusations of premeditation that have been levelled at him by a section of the Celtic support.

Instead, it’s the enduring nature of his friendship with Christie – not to mention the selfie the stricken Celtic star sent him to illustrate the extent of his injuries – that means Ball will always remember every detail of their fateful clash.

“I had slowed down, thinking I was on a yellow card and I shouldn’t do anything stupid,” said Ball, casting his mind back to the Dons’ Scottish Cup semi-final defeat. “I’ve never been sent off before. “I’ve been in 50-50s before, where players have ended up on the floor, but there’s been nothing wrong with that and there’s been no booking.

“At first, I thought Ryan was going to win it.

“But the ball bounced up and it was floating in the air, so obviously I’ve gone for it and our heads clashed

“I lived with Ryan in Aberdeen last year, so I was never going to try to hurt him. He’d stay with me when he couldn’t be bothered going home!

“It was disappointing that the impact meant he had done his cheekbone and his eye socket, then he banged his jaw when he landed.

“I’ve been in touch with him the whole time since it happened.

“It was disappointing that I had hurt him, and he’s out for the rest of the season.