Iain Brines has admitted he wrongly disallowed the goal that could have finished Celtic's league title challenge. The referee penalised Aberdeen's Zander Diamond for handball seconds before the defender blasted the ball into the top corner for what he thought was a last-gasp equaliser at Celtic Park on Saturday. Instead Celtic moved top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with a 1-0 victory.

Television replays showed Diamond had clearly won the ball with his head before collecting a return pass from Barry Nicholson. And Brines, in the Whistleblower section of the SFA's website, admitted he had got the decision "completely wrong".

"From the angle I had adopted, I observed the Aberdeen player Diamond jump to meet the ball and I believed he used his hand to aid the ball's flight beyond him," Brines said. "Immediately I blew my whistle awarding a free kick to Celtic. The majority of players reacted to the whistle by stopping - the exception being Diamond who placed the ball into the Celtic goal.

"On reflection and having had the opportunity to view the incident via television, I fully accept that I called this incident completely wrong. Having adopted the position I did, it didn't allow me to gain the best view of what happened during the incident. It is clear that the goal should not have been disallowed."

Diamond was enraged by the decision and criticised the referee for failing to discuss it. "I thought he had a poor game throughout," the 22-year-old said. "Saying I used my hand is an absolute joke and that sums him up. If that's one of Scotland's top officials, I think we're in trouble.

"I asked about him about the decision and he told me to go away. That angers a lot of players, that you can't talk to referees. Especially him."

Those comments could yet land the defender in trouble, despite the referee's admission of error, when the SFA's general purposes committee meet at Hampden.