Malpas stunned as Hogg red upheld

Inverness Caledonian Thistle have reacted with “astonishment” after defender Chris Hogg lost his appeal against the red card he received in the 3-2 defeat against Motherwell on Saturday.

Hogg was judged to have denied Jamie Murphy an obvious goalscoring opportunity when he tripped the Motherwell striker just before Tom Hateley hit a late free-kick winner, and the Scottish Football Association’s fast track tribunal yesterday upheld referee Crawford Allan’s decision.

On a busy day at Hampden, the new fast-track tribunal came to a decision on three other red cards from the weekend. It downgraded Aberdeen striker Rory Fallon’s red to a yellow for catching Rangers defender Dorin Goian with his arm during an aerial challenge; midfielder Gary Mason lost his appeal against the red card he received for a tackle on Dundee United’s Johnny Russell and is suspended for two matches; and Dundee goalkeeper Rab Douglas was successful in his appeal against his sending-off against Partick Thistle following a foul on Chris Erskine.

With regards to Hogg’s dismissal, Inverness felt there were two covering defenders who would have prevented Murphy running through on goal. Assistant manager Maurice Malpas was therefore incredulous at yesterday’s outcome, pointing to a similar incident at the weekend where Hearts defender Marius Zaliukas was booked for bringing down Kilmarnock striker Paul Heffernan in the box.

Hogg will now miss Caley Thistle’s SPL clash with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park tomorrow. “I’m absolutely astonished at the decision,” Malpas said.

“I’m astonished that they believed that the referee was correct, that Jamie Murphy had complete control of the ball and was going to score.

“We thought we had a very good case but the compliance officer and the panel were of the same mind with the referee.

“We’re upset at the consistency of the referees in terms of the decision here and the decision at Tynecastle on Saturday. That’s for the SFA to try and solve. That’s for the SFA to try and explain.

“Our situation is that Chris Hogg misses Saturday now, an important player in our team who’ll be twiddling his thumbs on Saturday at the game.”

Dunfermline were also left disappointed by the decision to dismiss Mason’s appeal against wrongful dismissal. Manager Jim McIntyre confirmed the midfielder’s two-match ban and said: “We thought Gary had a case. That’s why we appealed. But it was turned down, and we move on.”

For Aberdeen, there was a partial victory as Fallon’s sending-off was down-graded. Speaking after the defeat to Rangers, manager Craig Brown had said there was “no way that was a deliberate elbow in the face” and yesterday a statement on the club’s website said: “Rory Fallon’s red card, sustained late on in Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Rangers, has been downgraded to a yellow following the club’s appeal. The New Zealander will now miss one game, Monday’s trip to St Johnstone, instead of two.”

Dundee manager Barry Smith was delighted his goalkeeper has avoided a ban. “At the time we didn’t think he had committed a foul and the video backed that up,” he said yesterday.