Former referee claims Rangers should have been reduced to 10 men against Celtic | OneFootball

Former SFA referee Steve Conroy believes Rangers defender James Penrice should have been sent off following his late clash with Celtic winger Haissem Hassan at Ibrox.

Rangers ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Martin O’Neill’s side in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, with referee Nick Walsh overseeing a relatively quiet Glasgow derby.

However, tensions boiled over in the 78th minute after Penrice blasted the ball into Hassan’s face while the Celtic winger was on the ground following a tussle with Dujon Sterling inside the Rangers penalty area.

The incident sparked a confrontation between both sets of players, with Walsh eventually showing yellow cards to both Hassan and Penrice. Sterling escaped without a booking.

Conroy, though, believes Penrice was fortunate to remain on the pitch and insists he would have produced a red card had he been refereeing the game.

Speaking on The Ref’s View podcast, Conroy said: “He would have got the bullet, if I was doing it. He just blootered that ball straight into Hassan’s face.

“That is a straight red, off you go. There is no happy banter for that one for me.”

Host Scott McPike admitted he enjoyed the spiky nature of the incident but agreed Penrice was “lucky” to avoid being dismissed.

Conroy continued: “We have had totally insipid Rangers and Celtic games for years. So, I am saying he deserved the bullet for that – absolutely – but a few years ago, see if Scott Brown did it I would be saying exactly the same as you.”

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