Copyright scotsman
Hibs defeated St Mirren 3-0 in an overdue Paisley victory, however it wasn’t without controversy. After a long two years without a win at St Mirren Park, Hibs finally got that black and white monkey off their back in a dominant Paisley display. Josh Mulligan opened the scoring in the first half for David Gray’s men, before Chris Cadden and substitute, Miguel Chaiwa sealed the win. Against a high-flying Buddies side, who have just booked their place at Hampden for a League Cup final, it was a much-needed routine performance from The Hibees, however the scoreline could’ve been a lot different if it weren’t for VAR. The hosts had two goals disallowed in the game, one of which coming in the fourth minute, when Marcus Fraser nodded in a Keanu Baccus cross, however a ‘factual overturn’ was given by VAR, Andrew Dallas who adjudged the defender to be offside. Replays showed that the camera angle given to the official didn’t tell the whole story. After the match Premier Sports’ Michael Stewart, Alan Hutton and Charlie Mulgrew discussed the incident at length and weren’t sure if the still image showing Fraser to be offside was correct, as Baccus had already kicked the ball. There was also some dubiety about where the lines were drawn as Stewart claimed that two separate images were used to justify the goal being disallowed, accusing the VAR covering his tracks after making an error. Regarding the ‘goal’, Stewart claimed: “we talked about it at half time. They've come through with second pictures and graphics because they made a mistake in the first one. The first one was drawn off of Grant Hanley's yellow boot and the second one for me, is then being drawn off the ball. We spoke about it, the ball was in front of the blue line initially. "The point in all this is, is this is a system that's dependent on complete accuracy and this has been shown that there was a mistake made. Secondly, we've been questioning what frame to you use? Do you roll it forward a frame? Back a frame? I don't think the system is accurate enough to be able to make calls of such minuscule detail. “I think the system is not fit for purpose. That is a huge error that's been made and in the second one, I think they've used a different frame to make sure that they can still show that Marcus Fraser is marginally in front and offside.” St Mirren boss, Steven Robinson was understandably aggrieved at the call described it as ‘incredible’ that the officials would make a judgement call for an offside. Had the goal stood, a high-flying St Mirren side would have been favourites to secure the three points in Paisley. Not only does Stewart want rid of VAR in Scotland, but also claimed it can be used a tool for referees to cover their tracks. He continued: “It's too close to call so many decisions on a system I'm not sure is being used the way it should be. “VAR should be looking at things for a few seconds and then determining without drawing lines, do they stick with the on-field decision or not? There's a mistake been made there and they are trying to cover it up. That is showing that the system is flawed.” Your next Hibs read: Hibs reaping rewards for Grant Hanley punt as Mulligan continues to impress - talking points from big win
