Aberdeen travelled to Dingwall to face Ross County as they looked to make it nine wins in a row under Jimmy Thelin.
The Dons went on to win 1-0 in an exciting affair with a last minute winner.
The referee for this game was Euan Anderson, who was being supported on VAR by Kevin Clancy.
How did he and his officiating team get on?
We start in the 17th minute mark where the hosts would take the lead in a somewhat fortuitous fashion when a Gavin Molloy block bounced off Ross County forward Ronan Hale and into the net.
After praising how quick VAR has been in the past few weeks, this was a much longer check.
It was a very tight call.
Unfortunately for Ross County Eamonn Brophy had just strayed offside on the wing, and VAR correctly overruled the on-field decision.
I don’t think the assistant referee could be blamed for not spotting the offside as it was so tight.
A major point of discussion was a challenge from Hale on Molloy in the first half.
It was a strong and heavy tackle and it reminded me of the red card Kilmarnock’s Brad Lyons received against the Dons the previous week.
I don’t think his studs were up which saved him from a red card, it was just a full-blooded tackle.
A yellow card was just right, if the studs had been up then a red card would have been awarded.
Officials correct to disallow Dons goal
More controversy followed in the second half as Aberdeen thought they had taken the lead.
Halftime sub Vicente Besuijen took a smart free kick which crashed off the bar and onto the line.
The ball was then headed onto the bar by Slobodan Rubezic, again bouncing on the line.
The assistant referee and the referee awarded the goal. My initial reaction was no goal, I didn’t think either effort had crossed the line.
A long VAR check was to follow to see if the ball has crossed the line.
Once again, why do we not have goal-line technology?
We have invested money in VAR so why not goal-line technology?
It is the best and quickest way to determine whether a ball has crossed the line.
Although I do think the ball did not cross the line, either way Rubezic was offside from the free kick and the goal was correctly ruled out.
Penalty call was harsh but correct
Ross County had a golden opportunity to take the lead after they were awarded a penalty for handball.
The referee originally gave a corner, before being recommended by VAR to head to the monitor.
It was a slightly harsh call but handball was correct.
It’s a shot on goal, and the hand of Devlin clearly hits the ball. He just can’t get his hand out of the way quick enough.
Dimitar Mitov made a spectacular save to deny Ronan Hale, with his foot clearly being on the line.
No issues from a refereeing perspective.
I thought the referee was excellent for the Aberdeen goal. Devlin carried the ball forwards and was clearly fouled.
The full back managed to get back on his feet and continued playing, which led seconds later to the winner.
In the dying minutes of the game, the referee could have easily thought to give a free kick and slow the game.
It was a great advantage and very good refereeing.
Overall, I thought the referee had an OK game. I thought all of his cautions were spot on but he did have some odd decisions in the game.
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.
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