Simon Murray believes he was wrongly denied a penalty at Celtic Park.
The Ross County striker hit the deck after capitalising on Joe Hart’s hesitancy in possession, but referee Nick Walsh ruled there was insufficient contact to punish the goalkeeper. Within minutes, County conceded a spot-kick at the other end as Josh Sims fouled Greg Taylor, and Celtic went on to clinch a 4-2 victory.
Murray, however, insists the visitors were hard done by. He is adamant the referee would have blown for a foul anywhere else on the pitch, and was left baffled by Walsh’s explanations. The 31-year-old forward claims there was little difference between that incident and the penalty Celtic were awarded shortly after.
“There was contact,” said Murray. “The ref just said there wasn’t enough for a penalty. But there was an infringement on me and it made me stumble.
“I was trying to stay on my feet and be honest and score. If that’s in the middle of the park and I go down straight away then it’s given as a foul.
“I think the referee has to look at it and see that there was no advantage there - it’s a penalty in my eyes. But sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t.
“It’s just disappointing as the referee said there was contact, but just not enough for a penalty. I don’t really know what that means when he’s admitting there was contact.
“The penalty Celtic got was a fairly similar incident. He went down straight away but it was still the same sort of collision - they get it and we don’t.
“As a player coming away to Celtic Park you need things to go your way but it didn’t seem to happen.”
County started brightly on Saturday but couldn’t capitalise on some Celtic sloppiness. In the end, David Turnbull’s double plus strikes from Kyogo and Matt O’Riley were enough to ensure the champions began their Premiership title defence with three points.
Jordan White and James Brown were also on target for Malky Mackay’s side, with Murray left frustrated that they returned to Dingwall with nothing.
But he is certain they can take heart from a ‘brave’ display.
“It’s obviously a defeat for us but we feel there are a lot of positives there,” he said. “I also think it’s another example of how we have the mentality where we don’t give up, like we showed at the end of last season in the play-offs.
“We’ve had disappointing results but always bounce back and never give up. Listen, it’s always a tough game against Celtic.
“But I felt we frustrated them and on another day could have scored a couple of goals in the first 15 minutes. That’s the disappointing thing.
“But Celtic are the best team in the county and we put in a good performance, were brave and scored two good goals. I think we did really well and it’s something we can build on.”
