0 for 4: Caley loses another league cup quarter

By: Ian Rose | October 28th, 2008

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record here. Great chances, blah blah, poor finishing, etc etc. Another evening of striking problems, with a side of refereeing mistakes, saw us lose the fourth (of four) league cup quarterfinal in the history of the club.

Last year, it was away at Aberdeen, two seasons before that, away at Livingston. In 2000, away at Ayr United. Considering our very kind draws the past few Cup seasons, I won’t dare complain about draws, but the fifth time we reach a quarter, I would like to see one at home.

Neil McCann scored the game’s only goal early, from a possibly offside position. It would not be the last questionable decision from referee David Somers. But let’s be clear – the ref didn’t lose this match for us. He didn’t make it any easier, but our utter inability to put ball into net was once again to blame. Adam Rooney had a great chance on a header, Don Cowie a good look too.

Apparently, according to Craig Brewster, the ref actually apologized after the final whistle for not awarding a penalty in Caley’s favor, when Gerard Aafjes brought Rooney down in the box. I’m all for the whole idea of respecting the officials – they are, or are supposed to be, the defenders of the game. But when an official clearly knows, before the match has even ended and he’s had the chance to sit with a cup of tea and watch the video, that he made a mistake, there’s a problem. If he knew it was a penalty twenty minutes later, what changed in that time?

Whining over. We lost this one, or at best deserved to finish the 90 minutes at a draw. All credit to the Bairns – they played better in stretches than I’ve seen from them in a while, and their keeper made some very solid saves. I’d sincerely like to see them do well in the tournament, though the next time we see them, we could be forgiven for just a small chip on our shoulder about this one.