Scott Brown slams ‘disrespectful’ referee Calum Scott as Ayr United undone by late Partick penalty call
The man in the middle incensed Ayr by blowing for a controversial penalty eight minutes from time. And he tipped Brown over the edge when ruling out a last minute leveller for the Honest Men in Maryhill.
Gaffer Brown hit out at the attitude of the official – who he insists refused to speak to both him and his players over the hotly disputed calls.
He raged: “The referee wanted to make it about himself today and he did a really good job of that. He wouldn’t let us talk to him – I went to try and speak to him at the end and got exactly the same treatment.
“It’s good as a player when you can have a little bit of banter with a referee. Bobby Madden was the best at it during my time – he would push you to the side and say ‘shut up!’
“But the ref today was disrespectful to every one of our players with the way he went on. I’ve no idea why he booked me – I was calm and collected.
“To make it worse, he couldn’t wait to blow his whistle when we go up the other end and score. George [Oakley] walks over to him to ask why and he gets a yellow card for no reason whatsoever.
“Take nothing away from our performance, I thought we defended really well and never looked in any real danger. We dealt with their physicality and quality on the ball and we had more running power and created more chances…maybe not great, open-play chances, but throughout the whole game we were okay and I was happy with the lads.”
Ayr were undone when Scott blew for a foul by sub Ryan Howley – who he judged had pulled the shirt of Lee Ashcroft at a Thistle corner.
Kyle Turner stepped up to bury the spot kick before Oakley was denied a last gasp leveller when Scott again intervened for an alleged foul by the striker just before pulling the trigger.
The late drama followed a tousy affair at Firhill where both sides had threatened to cancel each other out. Thistle missed the usual goal threat offered by skipper Brian Graham, who was absent through injury. And Ayr had to do without their own captain, Ben Dempsey, who sat out through suspension.
Aidan Fitzpatrick drew a good first half save from Liam Russell, while Jay Henderson almost capped a fine move at the other end before sending his shot just wide on the stroke of half time.
Brown hooked stand-in skipper Frankie Musonda just moments into the second half when he narrowly avoided a second yellow card, but Ayr weren’t knocked from their stride and Oakley almost broke the deadlock with a fine effort which was turned wide by Myles Roberts.
Then came the late drama which saw Brown and his Ayr players hit the roof.
Thistle boss Kris Doolan said: “I’ve seen it back and the referee was six yards away in a good position to give the penalty.
“The referee was consistent with that all game in terms of giving fouls for pulls like that. We’re quick to blast referees when they’re not consistent but I felt he was in each box today.”
