Why Hibs' Ryan Porteous should have been sent off against Aberdeen

In another edition of Ref Review Joel Sked talks to former fully qualified referee Craig Anderson about the clash between Ryan Porteous and Gary Mackay-Steven during Hibs' 1-1 draw with Aberdeen.

Once again Hibs were involved in an exciting and engaging game of football as they shared the points with Aberdeen at Easter Road on Saturday.

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While there were a number of good displays from players on both sides, the performance of referee Andrew Dallas came under scrutiny. He waved away shouts from both sides for what appeared to be stick-on penalties.

Hibernian's Ryan Porteous goes down after a clash with Aberdeen's Gary Mackay-Steven. Picture: SNS/Paul DevlinHibernian's Ryan Porteous goes down after a clash with Aberdeen's Gary Mackay-Steven. Picture: SNS/Paul Devlin
Hibernian's Ryan Porteous goes down after a clash with Aberdeen's Gary Mackay-Steven. Picture: SNS/Paul Devlin

Then, deep into stoppage time, he booked both Gary Mackay-Steven and Ryan Porteous following a clash with both sets of fans calling for a red card for the opposition player.

The Aberdeen winger reacted aggressively to a challenge from the Hibs centre-back as he made his way towards the box.

Craig Anderson, former fully qualified referee, recalled a fixture between Hibs and St Johnstone in March, when Lennon fumed that Blair Alston should have been shown a red card for a cynical tackle on John McGinn as the Hibs midfielder broke free.

He said: “In that case, a yellow was sufficient because it was more of a trip, but this one was much worse. Porteous put his studs right into the back of Mackay-Steven’s leg, and made absolutely no attempt to play the ball. It should have been a red card.”

Porteous was then fortunate to stay on the pitch for his reaction to Mackay-Steven’s confrontational approach, the Aberdeen player deserving of his yellow card.

“The reaction from Porteous was even more ludicrous than the tackle,” Anderson explained. “Mackay-Steven stands up and confronts him, but makes no further movement towards him, and there was absolutely nothing which merited the defender collapsing to a heap.

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“The Laws of the Game have changed this season to clarify that if a player makes two separate yellow card offences in the same passage of play, then both yellow cards should be given.

“Therefore, even if the referee felt the original challenge was only a yellow, he should really have given a second yellow for the dive. Mackay-Steven’s yellow card was reasonable given that he adopted an aggressive attitude when confronting Porteous.”

• Craig Anderson is a former fully qualified referee. He is also the man behind SPL Stats on Twitter.