Aberdeen conceded two goals in time against St Mirren at Paisley to lose 2-1 and extend their winless run, but how did referee Nick Walsh and Kevin Clancy behave in VAR?
With the tension added by the presence of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the Aberdeen side took an early lead at the SMISA Stadium, with Connor Barron scoring a stunning goal in the first minute.
The first critical points of the match refereeing were the VAR, adding a ridiculously long penalty against Dons captain Graeme Shinnie for a tackle in the Reds’ box.
It’s a clever challenge: there was contact with the player, but the ball was returned to him and in the end he wasn’t awarded a penalty.
There have been too many critics of VAR this season who seem to be in favour of penalising anything, rather than focusing on transparent and apparent errors. And the one who opposed Shinnie wasn’t the only one.
The functionality of public servants would be improved.
Bojan Miovski was sternly reserved after charging at Buddies goalkeeper Zach Hemming as the goalkeeper was going to clear the ball on the field.
There was very little, if any, contact, and Hemming immediately recovered as soon as referee Walsh issued the warning.
Walsh’s use of the yellow card was incredibly inconsistent throughout the game.
Aberdeen’s James McGarry booked his first foul, in which he brought his player down after being hit.
In my opinion, it’s a yellow card: he prevented his player from advancing and putting a harmful ball into the box.
However, two minutes earlier, Miovski deftly rolled the ball past Alex Gogic on the edge of the St Mirren area.
The attacker could have shot, but he did shoot, although he was not shown a yellow card.
Throughout the game, there were a lot of minor fouls, from both teams, which is good, but you have to be consistent. The referee also lacked consistency in those penalties.
I wish I had noticed Walsh fall a lot more.
It’s Scottish football, the groups are going to be physical. Let them keep going, instead of exploding with every little push.
There was also a very offside resolution in the second half.
Aberdeen striker Miovski was evidently offside when a ball was going forward.
But the St Mirren defender picked up the ball, stopped it, took two touches and then Miovski stole the ball from him.
Before that, he didn’t interfere with the game – the defender made 3 touches before Miovski even got close!
The peak incident occurred in the 90th minute, when Aberdeen were still leading 1-0, and prompted the Buddies to come from behind to win the match.
Jamie McGrath made a very good headed clearance at the far post, with Dons’ Nicky Devlin and St Mirren’s Toyosi Olusanya chasing the ball.
A clash ensued between the two players and the referee awarded a weak shot to the hosts.
My first reaction was that it was simply an approach: two players throwing themselves at the same ball and getting tangled up.
However, a VAR review followed which lasted 4 minutes.
I was surprised that referee Walsh didn’t send the monitor to look at the foul and the point of contact.
VAR official Clancy obviously told Walsh that a penalty should be awarded.
After watching a replay of the incident, he is definitely in the area.
For me, it’s the St Mirren player who initiates the touch: he kicks Devlin’s leg, and not the other way around.
But I can understand why a penalty has been taken.
However, the referee wanted (and was forced) to review the footage himself.
It provides credibility to the decision, provides more clarity to the process, and shows that it is the referee who makes the decisions.
The way VAR referees agree is very frustrating.
Finlay Elder, a registered referee for six years and a category five official since 2019, with experience in the Highland League, Juniors and Club Academy.
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