Peterhead manager Jim McInally has hailed the sportsmanship of East Fife’s Ross Davidson after Gary Fraser’s red card appeal was successful.
The Blue Toon midfielder was given a straight red card by referee Graham Beaton during the 2-1 win against the Fifers for an alleged headbutt on Davidson after 65 minutes.
But the Buchan outfit were adamant there was no headbutt and Fraser and Davidson had only squared up to each other.
A Scottish FA judicial panel downgraded Fraser’s red card to a yellow with Davidson helping Peterhead’s appeal by writing to the SFA to say he hadn’t been headbutted.
Balmoor boss McInally said: “We welcome the decision that Gary’s red card has been reduced to a yellow.
“But I must give great credit to Ross Davidson from East Fife, who sent an email to say that he hadn’t been touched, which is just great sportsmanship and makes a difference.
“Sometimes with what goes on in Scottish football, especially in the past year or so, you lose respect for it, so it’s really nice to see somebody be as sporting as Ross has been and it says a lot about him.
“If Ross hadn’t said what he’s said, we don’t know what may have happened, because it wasn’t the clearest incident on the footage.
“But you have to believe players and the thing that really struck me about it was he didn’t need to bother, but he did, and he should be commended for that.”
But I must give great credit to Ross Davidson from East Fife who sent an email to say that he hadn’t been touched, which is just great sportsmanship and makes a difference.”
Jim McInally
The tribunal result means Fraser, 26, is available to face Partick Thistle on Saturday and Montrose on Tuesday.
McInally added: “We didn’t want Gary missing games because he would have missed him for Partick and Montrose and then that would have been him until the Cove game, which isn’t until January 2.
“We’re working him really hard in training and we felt he was doing well on Saturday.
“I’m just delighted Gary is available and what Ross Davidson has done is great and it restores your faith in Scottish football. I wasn’t aware he was doing that, but I’m very thankful that he has.”
In more positive team news, McInally has midfielder Simon Ferry available for the trip to Firhill this weekend.
The 32-year-old has missed Peterhead’s last three matches, but now that he’s back in the fray along with central defender Gary MacKenzie and striker Isaac Layne – who came on as a sub against East Fife – McInally is pleased to have that experience in the spine of his side.
He said: “It’s good that Simon’s back and hopefully he’s right now and he gets a clear run at things.
“We’ve got two big games on Saturday and then Tuesday, so it’s good to have him back because we’re going to need everyone.
“With Gary MacKenzie and Isaac Layne playing as well and Simon coming back, hopefully we can have a run of things without too much disruption.
“I think we had Simon and Gary together for 30 minutes against Airdrie and maybe for a half against Brechin.
“The two of them are important players in the spine of our team and any time we’ve had them it’s been good.
“Regardless of how important these guys are everybody has stepped up in the squad, but having these guys available does make life easier.”
