Ukraine may not have received a World Cup bye, but did the referee give them a free pass at Hampden?

Steven Naismith could be seen running down the touchline waving an imaginary yellow card.

This reaction provided a decent indication as to how the Scotland management staff viewed what could have proved a significant, possibly game-turning episode in the immediate aftermath of Ukraine going two goals in front against Scotland on Wednesday night.

It’s just that manager Steve Clarke knew it was impossible, given the context of the match, to come out afterwards and make an issue of it, particularly considering the paucity of Scotland’s performance.

Despite mutterings about byes and forfeits, the play-off semi-final was played where it ought to have been – on the grass. Which means the rules of the game should have been applied. Had there been the strictest possible interpretation of one particular rule, then Scotland might well have been playing against ten men for over 40 minutes.

The reason the Scotland coach Naismith was so exercised is that impressive Ukraine striker Roman Yaremchuk, who was booked for a crude foul on Billy Gilmour in the first half, understandably raced off to celebrate with his compatriots housed in the corner of Hampden Park after he put his side 2-0 up with a header.

It was a well-worked goal and a genuinely affecting moment; even Scots were not immune to the significance.

Despite the likely consequences for Scotland, my immediate instinct was to take a photograph of the throbbing mass of humanity in the away end, as yellow-shirted player after yellow-shirted player, headed by Yaremchuk, were submerged by jubilant fans at the front.

Ukraine were now well on the way to a play-off final semi-final victory. Joy, as long as you were not Scottish, was unconfined.

It would have taken a strong and possibly