Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Robbie Hanratty

Boxing Day penalty decisions under the microscope: What the SFA panel revealed

The Scottish FA's Key Match Incident panel has run the rule of over three penalty decisions involving Celtic and Rangers' Boxing Day fixtures. 

It was unanimously agreed that St Mirren were correctly awarded a spot kick for Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland fouling Greg Kiltie inside the box.

But there was a clamour for a red card too... However, all five members on the panel believe the yellow shown by referee David Dickinson sufficed. 

"The on-field decision was unanimously supported," the SFA stated. "The panel highlighted that the goalkeeper was correct to receive a caution for his challenge as it was reckless."

Oisin Smyth converted from 12-yards to give St Mirren the lead before Caolan Boyd-Munce cancelled out Danilo's equaliser, earning a first Scottish Premiership triumph over the Ibrox club since 2011.

(Image: PA)


Read more: 


Elsewhere, there were two penalty incidents during Celtic's 4-0 thrashing of Motherwell. 

The first Celtic shout was denied following a VAR check after claims that Motherwell's Kofi Balmer had handled the ball inside the box. The defender leaped with his arms outstretched as he attempted to prevent Celtic talisman Adam Idah from getting on the end of a Paulo Bernardo cross. 

But four of the five individuals on the KMI panel reckon the right decision was made, while one thinks the referee should've been sent for a look at the pitch side VAR monitor himself.

"The majority (4:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision of no handball to be correct," they said. "One panel member felt a VAR intervention should have taken place to recommend an OFR for a penalty kick."

The second talking point came in first half stoppage time when Celtic winger Hyun-Jun Yang drew a foul from Motherwell shot-stopper Aston Oxborough.

A penalty was given by Ross Hardie, and the KMI panel all agreed with the outcome.

"The panel unanimously agreed that the onfield decision was supportable," a note read. "The panel highlighted that this was not a decision for VAR to get involved as it could not be deemed a clear and obvious error."

(Image: PA) Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell insisted the whistler's call was "soft" in his post-match analysis.

“At the time my gut feeling was that it was soft in terms of how the Celtic player went down from what I felt was minimal to little, if any, contact," he blasted.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.