Following the 4-0 victory at Pittodrie in the league, the Dons travelled north to Dingwall this time in the cup to face Ross County with a place in the semi-final and a visit to Hampden at stake.
John Beaton was the main man in the middle and with no VAR how did he and his officiating team get on?
After losing an early goal courtesy of Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie, things would go from bad to worse for the home side as they were reduced to ten men.
Captain Jack Baldwin hauled down Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes as he ran through on goal.
The Cape Verde international beat the Englishman for pace, getting in front of the defender and the ball.
The foul was definitely outside the box and a stick on red card.
I don’t think there can be any complaints. It was a clear last-man challenge and denying of a goalscoring opportunity.
The second battle of these back-to-back games was just as aggressive with plenty of bookings.
I think the referee got most of the bookings correct but towards the end of the game he lost a bit of control and started flashing the yellows.
With no VAR in use, there was a lot more pressure on the officials to get the decisions right.
In my opinion the referee got two big penalty calls wrong.
The first shout came in the 68th minute as Shinnie appeared to be tripped in the penalty box. John Beaton was unmoved.
In my opinion, it certainly looked like a clear penalty.
If VAR had been active during the game, I certainly would have expected the penalty to be given.
It was relatively similar to the one Ross County were correctly given, something Shinnie was clearly pointing out when the penalty was awarded.
I don’t think there could be any arguments about the penalty awarded to Ross County.
Slobodan Rubezic was beaten for pace and he clearly obstructed and took down his opponent.
The second penalty call I think the referee and assistant referee got wrong was in added time when Ester Sokler looked to have been taken out on the edge of the box.
Referee Beaton even raised his whistle to his lips, before hesitating and eventually removed the whistle. Communication with the assistant would have been crucial to this decision.
It definitely looked a foul to me.
It was inside the box and a clear foul, in my opinion the referee and his assistant got this call wrong, along with the Shinnie penalty claim.
Thankfully for the Dons they would see out the game 2-1 and advanced to the semi-final.
Mackay unhappy with Beaton
Ross County manager Malky Mackay was also critical of the referee. He felt Ryan Duncan should have received a stronger punishment for a tackle on Josh Sims.
At the time it was difficult to see how much contact there was in the challenge but I don’t think there was any malice in the tackle. Having not seen a replay I can’t correctly give my opinion on the tackle.
There was clearly some amount of contact made due to the fact Sims was stretchered off. It certainly would have been one VAR should have looked at again.
I thought Beaton had a poor game and perhaps not having VAR made a difference.
There was an instance when a flag went up for offside incredibly late, an example of the confusion officials can face when they don’t use VAR.
The new protocols they have to follow are thrown out the window, which can be difficult to forget in the heat of the moment.
Finlay Elder was a registered referee for six years and a category 5 official from 2019, with experience in the Highland League, Juniors and Club Academy.