Aberdeen travelled to Dingwall to face Ross County in the final game before the January break.
A win was crucial for under pressure Aberdeen manager Barry Robson. A different formation and far more pleasing performance from the players resulted in a 3-0 victory for the Dons.
The referee for this match was Matthew MacDermid, being assisted on VAR by Nick Walsh. How did the referee and his officiating team get on?
The first game of 2024 started brightly for the away team with Jamie McGrath scoring a double.
Both goals were completely clean from a refereeing perspective with the Dons taking a two goal lead into the break.
The visitors thought they had killed the game off when skipper Graeme Shinnie went on a solo run before calmly slotting past Ross Laidlaw.
He held off several players before nutmegging another to send the away end into raptures.
The celebrations were cut short as Leighton Clarkson was offside in the build up.
It was a clear offside but the assistant referee followed the correct protocol by allowing play to finish.
Things went from bad to worse for the home team when captain Jack Baldwin again saw red against the Dons.
Having been sent off in the previous meeting in Dingwall in the League Cup quarter-final, he was once again given his marching orders.
His first booking was for taking out Bojan Miovski at the halfway line during the first half, which was a clear booking. The North Macedonian cleverly flicked the ball past him, knowing the contact was coming.
His second was for wiping out substitute Ester Sokler as he ran through on goal.
After an aerial challenge was excellently won by Ryan Duncan, the ball fell towards the path of Sokler.
A short foot race commenced with the Slovenian winning and the referee awarding a penalty and second yellow for Baldwin.
It was a clear foul, one of the clearest you’ll ever see, and Baldwin had removed his captain’s armband before the referee had even shown a card.
However, there was to be some added drama as Baldwin awaited a VAR check on the foul.
At the time I thought the foul had taken place just outside the box. However, with the speed of both players it was difficult to see where the initial contact took place.
A VAR check would confirm a free kick was to be awarded, meaning Baldwin would also have his caution changed.
This was not a positive thing for the Staggies skipper as the ‘double jeopardy’ rule was no longer valid, meaning the caution was upgraded to a straight red.
It was a last man challenge and it certainly warranted the upgrade.
Overall, I thought the referee had a pretty decent game. There were some soft fouls but they appear to be the new standard.
His yellow cards were all spot on and he managed the game pretty well.
The only major decision he got wrong was the penalty, which was rightly and efficiently corrected by VAR.
Finlay Elder was a registered referee for six years and a category 5 official from 2019, with experience in the Highland League, Juniors and Club Academy.
