Ross County midfielder Jackson Irvine was adamant he should have been awarded a penalty towards the end of the Staggies’ 1-0 defeat to Partick Thistle on Saturday.
With the Dingwall outfit trailing at Firhill following Andrew Davies’ own goal, Irvine was poised to restore parity on 77 minutes when Liam Boyce’s low cross picked out his far-post run, until the Australian appeared to be tugged to the ground by Thistle captain Abdul Osman.
Referee Andrew Dallas said no to deny County the chance to secure a point from a game in which 22-year-old Irvine admitted the Staggies were below par.
Irvine said: “It’s extremely frustrating. I don’t think it could have been any clearer, he pulled me back by the arm, but as he said on the pitch it’s good play – at least it is if he gets away with it.
“But it’s really frustrating because it’s got to be a penalty, and then you have to ask was it the denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity and a red card?
“That’s for the referee to look back on but when key moments like that go against us then we know it’s not going to be our day.
“That doesn’t take away the fact it was a poor performance from ourselves.
“Our final decision-making was probably as poor as we’ve been this season, but goals change games and if we’d got that penalty to get ourselves back in it that may have changed the whole complexion of the second half.”
County manager Jim McIntyre felt his side had another strong penalty shout midway through the second half, claiming Jamie Reckord was obstructed inside the box by Jags defender Mustapha Dum-buya.
McIntyre claimed left back Reckord should have gone to ground when the contact was made, and Irvine feels his side must smarten up in key moments of games. He added: “Something we’ve talked about recently is that we’ve been too honest at times. Even in our 3-1 win at Hamilton the previous week when they broke up the park, if someone had the smarts to bring the player down and take the yellow card we maybe needed that. I understand it’s part of the game, but it’s frustrating it has cost us.”