Rutherglen Glencairn boss: Ref got every big decision wrong and made factual error on penalty call

Joe Pryce blasted the performance of the referee after he sent off three players and ‘got every big decision wrong’ in Rutherglen Glencairn’s 2-1 defeat to St Roch’s.

The big top-of-the-table clash in the West of Scotland First Division gave Glens the chance to leapfrog their rivals and hit the summit.

However, after taking an early lead through Jack McIveen and seeing The Candy were reduced to 10 men inside 28 minutes, and an action-packed second half saw the hosts score twice either side of red cards for Glens duo Sean McGuire and Martin McBride.

Pryce was far from happy with his own side’s performance, but was left bewildered by the whistler, whom he claims awarded a free-kick for his side even though a foul was given as taking place on the 18-yard line – which should result in a penalty.

Baffled Pryce explained: “We were on the end of a few wrong decisions from the official.

“I don’t want to blame him because I know we should have been better than we were, but the official got every big decision wrong. Anybody who was at the game saw that and anyone watching the video of it can see it as clear as day.

“The first red card, the boy smashed the ball towards the net and Sean McGuire is less than a yard away from it. The referee tells me he intentionally moved his hand towards the ball – which is not possible because he’s only a yard away. He’s not got time to move his arm.

“We had a penalty incident in the first half which was actually in the opposition box. The referee puts the ball on the 18-yard line, which means it is a penalty. If the foul is committed on the line, it is a penalty and when the players told him that, he just told them ‘no, it’s not’. That’s just factually wrong.

“Martin’s red card was for two