Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin accuses Hibs defender Ryan Porteous of “blatant cheating” and calls for full-time referees

Referee David Dickinson pointed to the spot on the stroke of half time when the Hibs defender went down after a coming together with Liam Scales as a cross came into the box.

The Aberdeen defender was shown a second yellow card as a result, and after Martin Boyle dispatched the spot kick Hibs went on to run out comfortable 3-1 winners against the ten-man Dons thanks to Josh Campbell’s second-half double.

“I told him to his face after the game what I thought of him,” said Goodwin of Porteous. “He knows, he was laughing about it. He celebrates winning penalty kicks like he has scored a goal. He’s a good player, he’s got his international recognition. But I don’t know how people can be fooled by it continuously. If VAR was there that penalty wouldn’t be given.”

Goodwin said Aberdeen had prepared during the week for the danger posed by Porteous going down in the box and said he had warned Dickinson about it before the match. He wants full-time referees in Scotland so that they can also prepare during the week by watching players they will be officiating.

The Dons boss added: “I don’t know what Liam Scales can do when Ryan Porteous grabs him in a headlock and drags him to the ground. And I don’t know how many times the boy Porteous can get away with that kind of stuff because we are telling our players midweek to be careful with him in the box, be careful with him at set plays, try not to touch him because he will go over. I actually had a laugh and joke with the referee prior to the game – again to make him aware of it.

“Unfortunately just on half time he was sucked in hook, line and sinker, bought it and it ends up with us having to play 45 minutes with a man less. Eleven v 11 is hard enough. To play with 45 minutes with a man less against a team like Hibs, with the quality they have in forward areas, is virtually impossible. We couldn’t see it through.”

Goodwin says the introduction of VAR, which is expected to be introduced to the Scottish Premiership after the World Cup winter break, can’t come soon enough. But he also believes full-time referees would make a difference.

“There’s got to be an argument for full-time referees,” Goodwin added. “We’ve got to be one of the only top leagues in Europe still kicking about with part-time referees.

“So let’s find the money to make it a full-time job and they can sit there like we do as professionals and really analyse the game, good bad and ugly. I don’t know when they get the opportunity to do that.

“Maybe they can look at some of the players who are going to be involved and have those things in the back of their mind, because we showed our players a number of instances where Porteous has won penalties like that in the past.

“People will say, he’s good at it, he’s clever. Not for me. It is blatant cheating as far as I’m concerned. It has cost my team points and I’m now going to have to go without Liam Scales for a game as well – big, important player for us – because I don’t think we can appeal a second yellow. It’s extremely disappointing.”