Aberdeen v Kilmarnock Ref Watch: Tobers red card mix-up so poor

Aberdeen made it two Premiership wins in a row by beating Kilmarnock 1-0 – but how did referee Nick Walsh and VAR official Andrew Dallas perform?

The first big call of the game came after 35 minutes, when Killie’s Liam Donnelly found himself with enough space in the box to take a shot towards the Dons goal.

Donnelly scuffed his effort then hit the deck under pressure from Latvia international Kristers Tobers.

Ref Walsh pointed to the penalty spot – to the dismay of the Aberdeen players and supporters.

My first reaction was one of confusion. It looked like Donnelly just fell over, and from my angle, it was hard to see if Tobers had touched his rival.

Referee Nick Walsh awards Kilmarnock a penalty against Aberdeen for a foul on Liam Donnelly. Image: SNS.

Ultimately, Dallas on VAR intervened and recommended Walsh had a look at the monitor, and from the replays, it was clear there was minimal – if any – contact from the Aberdeen defender. It was certainly not enough to warrant a penalty kick, and the referee was correct to overrule his initial decision.

Walsh’s Tobers ‘second’ booking error was embarrassing

Worse than the penalty mistake, though, was Walsh showing a yellow and then red card to Tobers in the immediate aftermath of the “foul”.

Walsh seemed to think Tobers had already been booked, when in fact Ante Palaversa was the only booked Aberdeen player at the time.

As a referee, your cards should only be visible if you are certain with what you are awarding, and it was extremely poor to see one of Scotland’s highest-ranking officials make such an error.

Walsh quickly corrected his mistake over Tobers’ “second” booking, but cards are something which should be confirmed by the referee in communication with his support team before ever leaving their pocket.

Offside calls made harder if player is moving away from goal

Just moments after the penalty fiasco, Aberdeen thought they had taken the lead through a fine Jeppe Okkels finish.

However, another VAR check was to follow.

Okkels was just offside when the ball fell into his path from a Pape Gueye touch.

Jeppe Okkels of Aberdeen scores against Kilmarnock but it's ruled out for offside. Image: Shutterstock. — Jeppe Okkels of Aberdeen scores against Kilmarnock but it’s ruled out for offside. Image: Shutterstock.

I have always found offside calls slightly harder when a player is moving away from goal, as Okkels was.

I can understand why the assistant didn’t initially catch the offside – and I thought the VAR process from Dallas was efficient.

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.