REFEREE Iain Brines has admitted he wrongly disallowed the goal which could have finished Celtic's title challenge.
Brines penalised Aberdeen's Zander Diamond for handball seconds before the defender blasted the ball into the top corner for what he thought was a last-gasp equaliser at Celtic Park on Saturday. Instead Celtic moved top of the Clydesdale Bank Premie
r League with a 1-0 victory. Television replays showed Diamond had clearly won the ball with his head before collecting a return pass from Barry Nicholson.
And Brines, in the 'whistleblower' section of the SFA's website, admitted he had got the decision "completely wrong".
"From the angle I had adopted, I observed the Aberdeen player Diamond jump to meet the ball and I believed he used his hand to aid the ball's flight beyond him," the referee explained.
"Immediately I blew my whistle awarding a free-kick to Celtic. The majority of players reacted to the whistle by stopping – the exception being Diamond who placed the ball into the Celtic goal. On reflection and having had the opportunity to view the incident via television, I fully accept that I called this incident completely wrong. Having adopted the position I did, it didn't allow me to gain the best view of what happened. It is clear that the goal should not have been disallowed."
Diamond was enraged by the decision on Saturday and criticised Brines for failing to discuss it. "I thought he had a poor game throughout," the 22-year-old said. "Saying I used my hand is an absolute joke and sums him up."
Those comments could yet land the defender in trouble, despite the referee's admission of error, with the SFA's general purposes committee due to meet at Hampden today.
The full article contains 297 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
