In February, Smith gave Celtic a dodgy freekick at Love Street when he decided Gary Mason had fouled Shunsuke Nakamura. TV evidence later showed that, if anything, it was a freekick the other way. Celtic scored and won the game. As a result, there were quite a few concerned Saints fans when it was announced he was to be referee today. For good reason, as it turned out.
As the hour mark approached, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink took advantage of a Saints defensive laps before booting the ball away and colliding with Mark Howard. It fell into the "seen them given category" and is something Andy Johnson did a few times for Everton, but no penalty was awarded.
A few minutes later, Saints were in trouble again. Vennegoor of Hesselink got goalside of Will Haining and after a bit of tussling, shot wide and fell to the ground. Smith decided there was enough for a penalty and, having decided it was a foul, sent Haining off. Barry Robson just scored from the spot despite the best efforts of Mark Howard.
TV replays showed that if there was any fouling, it was Vennegoor of Hesselink doing it. Furthermore, they showed he was offside when the ball it was played. Sure, Saints defended stupidly, but it was never, ever a foul.
Fans of all clubs seem to be agreeing that it wasn't a penalty, as do the pundits on Radio Scotland. Most of the Saints party had to watch their words to avoid saying something that would get them nto trouble. What's the point in playing the Old Firm when, even if you do well, the man in the middle is going to cheat you out of your reward. Eddie Smith has done it twice to us and it's been blatant both times. Will he be punished for incompetence? Will he hell.
Perhaps Mad Vlad, Craig Levein and co have a point about referees. I should be talking about how well we did, the good debut performances, but instead I'm furious that we have been conned out of a point by a cheat.