Mike McCurry, one of Scotland’s leading referees, was forced to admit yesterday that he got two key decisions wrong during the Rangers-Dundee United match at Ibrox on Saturday, a game that Rangers won 3-1.

McCurry, who made his admissions on the SFA’s official website, confessed that he should have awarded United a penalty after David Weir tripped Noel Hunt inside the box, and that he was also wrong to disallow Danny Swanson’s goal after 71 minutes with his side 2-0 down.

Craig Levein, the United manager, made one of the strongest attacks witnessed on a referee at the post-match press conference, claiming that McCurry was “weak” and that he had “bottled it” in front of a 50,000 Ibrox crowd. The 3-1 defeat ended United’s hopes of grabbing a Uefa Cup spot.

Levein spoke last night in response to McCurry’s statement and remained just as withering of the official. “It’s too late, the damage is done,” he said. “If Mike McCurry is supposed to be one of our top referees, he shouldn’t be making such blatant errors as he did. And they were absolutely blatant errors. Moreover, what concerns me is that you could never in your wildest dreams imagine such decisions going the other way against Rangers.”

McCurry apologised yesterday for his lapses, in a manner that some felt was humiliating for the match official.

“In the 55th minute of the match Rangers were in possession of the ball and attempted to clear it from their defensive area,” he said. “I started to run towards the halfway line, anticipating the ball being cleared, but the clearance was not successful and the ball struck Noel Hunt, who then chased the ball into the penalty area followed by David Weir.

“I was caught out of position and my line of sight was partially obstructed by another player. I saw Hunt fall to the ground with Weir in close proximity, but as my vantage point was extremely poor it was not possible for me to say if any infringement had occurred. Given this significant doubt in my mind, I had no option but to allow play to continue.

“I have now had the benefit of seeing the incident again on television. I believe that were it not for the fact that I had been caught out of position by the quick transfer of play, I would have awarded Dundee United a penalty and would have cautioned Weir.”

McCurry went on to explain why, with the help of his linesman, Stuart Macaulay, he also mistakenly chalked off Swanson’s goal, an act that caused Levein and the United bench to explode with fury.

“Danny Swanson shot towards the Rangers goal and the ball appeared to me to deflect off a Rangers player and enter the goal,” McCurry said. “As I turned to award a goal to Dundee United, it was brought to my attention that the stand-side assistant referee had his flag raised.

“I went across to the assistant referee and confirmed that he was signalling for offside. He confirmed me this was the case and informed me that a Dundee United player had been in an offside position and that he had played the ball prior to it entering the goal.

“I informed the assistant referee that it appeared to me that the ball was deflected off a Rangers player. The assistant referee told me that he had not seen it touch a Rangers player but had definitely seen it played by the Dundee United player, David Robertson.

“Given that Robertson was behind the Rangers player, my view was such that I could not tell if the ball had been played by Mr Robertson last before entering the goal. Consequently, I decided to accept the advice of my assistant referee.

“Again, having had the opportunity to review the incident on television, it is clear to me that the ball is not played by Robertson, who was, however, technically in an offside position. With the benefit of seeing the incident again, I consider it would have been more appropriate to conclude that the player, David Robertson, was not involved in active play, and I would have allowed the goal to stand.”

After his act of contrition, Gordon Smith, the SFA chief executive, leapt to McCurry’s defence in the face of some withering criticism.

“Michael McCurry has been a top-class referee for a number of years and has handled many a high-profile, high-pressure game, and to impinge on a man’s integrity in this way is extremely unfair,” Smith said.

“To suggest that there was any kind of agenda behind the decisions made on the day does a massive disservice to the game and is completely unfair.

“Football is a game played by people and people can make mistakes. It is always frustrating when decisions go against you, but this has been a part of football since the game started.

“We rely on our referees to make decisions in a split-second and without the benefit of countless replays. I think that it is extremely sad that an honest, dedicated professional has been treated in this way.”

Levein, however, dismissed Smith’s comments. “These remarks by Gordon Smith don’t surprise me in the slightest,” the United manager said. “At Ibrox on Saturday it was about a basic level of competence, and my club and my own livelihood have suffered as a consequence. But what will the SFA do about it? Absolutely bugger all, I can assure you.

“People have wanted me to say that I was deliberately cheated at Ibrox. Well, I haven’t said that. But I can tell you this, I felt as if I’ve been cheated.”

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