| ALLEZ LES HOOPS |
| Our referee hitlist has now become so long that it's difficult to go into a game without the feeling that the man in black is going to reveal himself to be a total clown. Yesterday it was Brian Cassidy, who should retire now and save himself the embarrassment of making such a mess of a game as he did yesterday. It was sadly as an inconsistent a performance as we've ever seen from a referee, as Cassidy let Peterhead off the hook for incidents which saw Queen's players booked or, worse, sent off. If the two reds were given out by a referee who had been consistent throughout and had given both sides fair treatment, then the Queen's fans may have been able to stomach the decisions. Unfortunately Cassidy, clearly a veteran (balding, fat, slow), turned a blind eye to several challenges which saw Queen's players writhing on the deck and was all too willing to book Steven Reilly for persistent fouling. Well, I hate to break it to you, Bri, but I'm sure one of the Peterhead players had just as many persistent fouls - and more - to his name, but only saw yellow. Derek Scrimgour and Frankie Carroll were both shown straight reds. The goalie's ejection killed the game as Queen's had to bring off Canning and bring on Crawford, forcing Carroll to play in his original position and on the right side for the remaining hour or so. It was this repositioning that caused him to haul down the Peterhead player in the last minute. So to say that Scrimgour's red was a turning point would be an understatement. Scrimgour's dismissal will no doubt be argued for a while yet. Jonny Whelan put the goalkeeper under a lot of pressure by passing the ball back and can shoulder a lot of the blame for the incident. Scrimgour, who is usually so comfortable with the ball at his feet, tried to take the ball past Johnston but was challenged by the Peterhead forward. The two went after the ball, with the goal gaping. Derek was supposed to have brought Johnston down by either tugging at him or tripping him. It didn't seem obvious though that this was the case. Johnston tried a shot and it went wide. Even though he was on the deck, there wasn't much of an appeal from the player. Cassidy saw it differently and pointed to the spot. However, had the ball gone in, what would Cassidy's decision have been? Would he have played advantage despite the alleged foul? Anyway, the penalty was given and sadly the rules of the game meant that Scrimgour had to go. It was an embarrassing red for the keeper who has been excellent recently. On came young David Crawford and his best efforts couldn't keep a dodgy penalty out. Peterhead scored another shortly after and it seemed as though Queen's would be several more down before half-time. The second half saw a better Queen's performance and a worse one from Cassidy. The referee continued to ignore several cynical Peterhead challenges and in one incident, gave a throw-in instead of a corner when the assistant on the other side had his flag pointing to the corner! This was the last straw for the Queen's fans, frankly. Queen's managed a goal back through an excellent Ally Graham header but QP were so stretched it was unlikely that a comeback could be achieved. A heavily depleted defence conceded two more and the game, considerably altered after the Scrimgour dismissal, finished 4-1, a scoreline which failed to tell the whole story. Frankie Carroll's red at the end wasn't needed. A booking would have been enough and with the game already over and with Frankie having committed no other fouls in the match, Cassidy should have known better than to send him off. At the final whistle Cassidy was surrounded by Queen's players as they questioned his decisions. But these decisions sadly cannot be changed. What Queen's now have to face is more suspensions and with big home games against Stranraer and Albion Rovers coming up, these are absences we cannot afford. The red card count is now becoming a big concern and if this continues we stand to be heavily fined. Some fans also feel that Brannigan's time is now up. As I've said before, the season is over and we should try and build for next year. Getting rid of Brannigan now would leave us even more exposed. What Kenny can do is sign more players when the window re-opens - if he can. Our squad has been exposed as shallow and there's an alarming lack of cover, especially in defence. The discipline has to be sorted out too. Although we have been unlucky, some of the reds have been deserved and certain players will have to cut out the temptation to talk back at referees during games. Dissent is no doubt a factor when they hand out yellows and reds. These are things we can change. Sadly we can't change the thinking of morons like Cassidy. Ratings: Scrimgour 6, Ferry 6, Sinclair 7, Whelan 6, Reilly 6 (Conlin 6), Canning 6 (Crawford 7), Kettlewell 7, Harvey 6, Graham 7, McAuley 7 (Gallagher 7) Man of the Match: Richard Sinclair Match Ratings: *** |