Referee takes centre stage as soft penalty takes tie to a replay

REFEREE Ian Craig can expect a hot reception at Prestonfield on Saturday if he's the man in charge when these sides do it all over again in the fifth round of the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup.

Craig, the man who sent off four Largs Thistle players in a West Region League game earlier in the season, seemed determined to take centre stage once again in this match on a bitterly cold day in Ayrshire.

He left Linlithgow with ten for an hour after controversially sending off John Adam and continued to infuriate the visiting fans with a whole host of questionable decisions before awarding the home side a soft-looking penalty that earned them a trip to West Lothian this weekend.

Linlithgow boss Dave Baikie had to bite his tongue after the match and he was just relieved that Craig hadn't cost his side their chance of lifting the Junior game's top prize this season. "Under the circumstances, I'm delighted we've got another bite at the cherry – we're still in the Scottish Cup and that's the most important thing," said Baikie.

In a game of very few clear-cut chances, Whitletts came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first-half, giant centre-half David Buchanan beating Steven Pinkowski with a header that just cleared the bar after Linlithgow had been caught napping by a quickly-taken free-kick.

Three minutes later, Ward got his marching orders, the former Brechin midfielder being shown a straight red card for a challenge on Steven Kerr that divided the opinion of Baikie and his Whitletts counterpart, Jim Geddes.

"I felt John Adam clearly got the face of the ball," said Baikie, while Geddes commented: "If it was one of our players, I'd have expected him to go as it was a bad two-footed challenge and our player has a bad gash on his leg."

The decision certainly left Linlithgow with a mountain to climb to at least secure a replay yet the ten men went in front just after the break, full-back Mark Tyrell curling home a sweetly-struck free-kick after John Ward had been fouled a yard outside the box.

Linlithgow held on to that lead until the 70th minute, when Linlithgow winger Roddy McLennan was left looking utterly bemused after he was adjudged to have given away a penalty.

In truth, McLennan was attempting to clear his lines but, in missing the ball, he caught Mark Cameron and, after Craig had pointed to the spot, David McGivern sent Pinkowski the wrong way with a confidently-taken penalty.

"I didn't see what the penalty was for as there was no intent whatsoever," said Baikie.

David Cunningham, a player who'll need to be watched closely in the replay, almost stole it for Whitletts with a late header, though it would have been rough justice if Linlithgow had gone out.

"It was one of those days when the wind was swirling and the conditions weren't great for passing the ball," added the Linlithgow manager.

"With ten men, you have got to pick and choose the times you go forward to try and get something and, though you've got to give Whitletts credit for getting back in the game, at least we've got home advantage now."

Geddes must surely have been alone in thinking the referee had a good game, though that was perhaps no surprise given that the key decisions went the way of the home team.

"It was a difficult game as it was hard for both teams after not playing a lot of football in the last few weeks," he said. "It must have been a good game to watch and, though another official might not have given either the free-kick (for Linlithgow's goal] or the penalty, I thought the referee was excellent.

"Linlithgow are massive favourites for the cup, let alone this game, so from that point of view it is going to be harder for us. But we'll be aiming to go there and give a good account of ourselves – it should be interesting on Saturday."

Whitletts: Barclay, Buchanan, McGivern, Cameron, King, McCissock, Kerr, Cunningham, Main, Davidson (Santos 77), Duffy. Subs: Clark, McNeil, Ryeland, McPherson, Lyle.

Linlithgow: Pinkowski, Tyrell, Virgil, Ward, Donnelly, McMenamin, Livingston (Smith 65), Adam, Herd (Manson 65), Coyne (McArthur 78), McLennan. Subs: Flannery, Bradley, McEwan, McPherson.