Liam Thomas

Mon 16 January 2023 12:10, UK

Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson has praised Nick Walsh’s decision to give Aberdeen captain Anthony Stewart a straight red card for his tackle on Rangers attacker Fashion Sakala.

The Dons defender lunged in with a horrific display of clumsy play in the ViaPlay Cup semi-final on 15 January, a poor decision which may have ultimately cost his side on the day.

Jackson confessed that Walsh was right to give Stewart a straight red and did well to maintain his cool in the special kind of “madness” that is Scottish football.

“A word of credit here to yesterday’s ref Nick Walsh who got through his shift unscathed, calling all the big decisions correctly including Stewart’s straight red card for a tackle on Fashion Sakala which was the absolute height of stupidity,” said Jackson as quoted by the Daily Record.

“Walsh even kept his cool in extra time when the wifi dropped out and the voices in his head suddenly stopped talking. This is Scottish football. And it’s a special kind of madness.”

Reckless.

Of course, it was a straight red, Stewart’s tackle was completely reckless and Sakala is lucky to have escaped from the incident unscathed.

Walsh didn’t even hesitate in whipping out his red card, something that other Scottish Premiership referees can learn a thing or two from.

It was a moment of madness from the Dons captain, something that was bound to happen given his pre-match comments about Alfredo Morelos.

To be fair to Walsh, he got all the decisions right in the ViaPlay Cup semi-final fixture, in a game where ropey conditions didn’t help matters whatsoever.

And it was far from plain sailing for Michael Beale and the Gers with Stewarts sending off proving to be a pivotal turning point in the 94th minute.

Rangers now face Celtic in the final for the first chance of silverware this season, it is likely the Light Blues’ best bet at winning any at all this campaign too.

In other Rangers news, the Gers are expected to sign this “World Cup star” in January.