ANTHONY Ralston yesterday denied the controversy over the Vaclav Cerny penalty incident has detracted from Celtic’s dramatic Premier Sports Cup final victory over Rangers.
The right-back and his team mates rejoiced with their fans at Hampden on Sunday evening after beating their city rivals in a shootout and completing the first leg of a potential domestic treble.
But supporters of the Ibrox club have this week bemoaned the failure by VAR officials Alan Muir and Frank Connor to award a spot kick for a pull by Parkhead defender Liam Scales on Cerny inside his area in the second period of extra-time.
SFA head of refereeing Willie Collum admitted the duo got that call wrong on The VAR Review show on You Tube yesterday and branded the error “unacceptable”.
Read more:
- Rangers respond after Willie Collum major VAR error admission
- Willie Collum admits 'unacceptable' Rangers cup final penalty mistake
- The Rangers penalty call that divided SFA & KMI panel
However, Ralston still feels that Celtic can be proud of a hard-fought triumph which saw them edge ahead of Rangers in the all-time trophy table and stressed the outcry had done nothing whatsoever to dampen their celebrations.
“The majority of the boys enjoyed it,” he said. “I had my wee girl’s nativity play at 9am in the morning. I was watching her be a wee angel in her Christmas show so I cut my party short! But the lads took it in and enjoyed it, which is important you do in these moments in your career. “From my personal point of view, as long as we won the trophy, I wasn't really bothered about how you do it. But obviously it was a dramatic ending. It was about how much we wanted to win it in the end and we pushed right through to the end.
Read more:
- Rangers and Celtic pyro disciplinary takes new Safety Officer twist
- Celtic defender responds to Rangers VAR penalty outrage
- Sir Jim Ratcliffe increases Manchester United stake
Asked if he felt that the Rangers penalty row had detracted from Celtic’s achievement, Ralston said: “Personally, I don't think so. There was an on-field decision made from the officials, which has nothing to do with us as players.
“At the time, I feel there wasn't much said about it. Then obviously, given the result, there was more said. But I don't think it takes anything away from winning the trophy. The main thing for us is that we got our hands on the trophy, which we did.
“In football, there's going to be opinions and views, which is fine. But it's nothing to do with us, and that's kind of where we stand on it.”
