New evidence has emerged of the x-rated challenge on Kieran Tierney from Ryan Bowman.
Midway through the second half of Celtic’s 2-0 win over Motherwell the Celtic full-back was preparing to control a cross-field pass close to the touchline.
Seeing a chance to ‘lay down a marker’ to one of Celtic’s top players Bowman launched a straight leg ‘tackle’ that caught Tierney on the side of his left knee.
As a professional footballer Bowman would have known the damage such a challenge could cause, as a referee Don Robertson should have known the danger.
Robertson took Bowman aside, lectured him and issued a yellow card as Tierney received treatment.
Fortunately Tierney’s left foot was off the ground but the gash on his leg was obvious.
Horror challenge on KT today bringing back grim memories of the tackle on John Kennedy pic.twitter.com/hhlAW1gcI8
— matt mcglone (@MattMcGlone9) February 18, 2017
Shocking only a matter of time before one of our players get serious injurie #CelticFc @celticfc @kierantierney1 @celticway1888 pic.twitter.com/qIrK67Z3tI
— Bernadette Devlin (@BernieDevlin68) February 19, 2017
Encouraged by Robertson’s leniency there will be more challenges like that going in on Celtic players in future matches, perhaps Bowman saw Iain Vigurs get a yellow for a savage attack on Scott Sinclair the previous week.
With Tom Rogic absent for two months already unless referees start to offer some level of protection there are bound to be some serious injuries in the coming weeks.
It’s only good fortune that allows Brendan Rodgers to be able to select Tierney and Sinclair for Saturday’s match with Hamilton Accies.
