Almost, but not quite forgotten, among the incidents in the Hamilton v Celtic match was a shocking ‘tackle’ on Kieran Tierney from Darian MacKinnon.
With ten minutes left to play the Accies midfielder knew exactly what he was doing. Seeing Tierney taking possession he bends his right leg then straightens it to ensure maximum impact on the ball and anything else that gets in his way.
From his face it’s quite clear that MacKinnon is ‘whole-hearted’ or ‘fully committed’ depending on whatever cliché suits your argument when he lunged in, leading with a straight leg.
Craig Thomson was close by, saw the incident clearly and felt that it merited a yellow card. The FIFA official has a history for dishing out the red card in similar situations, this time he felt that yellow was the appropriate punishment.
After the match the incident barely rated a mention, with Ronny Deila backing Thomson’s decision to send off Dedryck Boyata the main headline.
While it wasn’t quite at the same level as Kyle Lafferty’s lunge on Andreas Hinkel six years earlier there are worrying parallels.
Firstly there seemed little in the way or reaction from the Celtic players to protect Tierney and highlight MacKinnon’s recklessness. Secondly, despite the incident taking place facing the technical area, there seemed little protest from the Celtic management team.
Now, that’s a lunge!! pic.twitter.com/WZMDWwdUy5
— Muireann Fanning (@muireannf) February 26, 2016
When incidents like that are allowed it can lead to open season. Opponents sense a weakness that they can exploit. Referees and fourth officials would expect a reaction but when there is none they feel that their decision has been justified.
Fortunately Tierney avoided serious injury with the teenage left-back again one of Celtic’s best performers on the night.
It could have been very different, Tierney could have been seriously injured, out of action for the remainder of the season or longer.
When challenges like MacKinnon’s are ‘punished’ by a yellow card it sends out a message throughout the game- skilful players better be careful on the ball while the ‘whole hearted’ types can fly in knowing that any punishment will fall well short of the possible damage done.