St Mirren Successfully Appeals Red Card for Defender Marcus Fraser

The red card issued to St Mirren defender Marcus Fraser during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Dundee United has been rescinded. The incident occurred late in the match. The Paisley-based club appealed the decision, and a Scottish FA fast-track tribunal subsequently ruled in their favor. At Tannadice, Fraser was involved in two penalty incidents, both of which referee Matthew MacDermid reviewed using the pitchside monitor. While he did not receive a caution for the initial incident, a yellow card issued for the second was upgraded to a red card after he was judged to have impeded Louis Moult. Referee MacDermid’s assessment was that Fraser had prevented Moult from an obvious goal-scoring opportunity; however, the hearing panel on Wednesday morning did not concur. St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson commented in his post-match interview, “If that’s a red card, we’re all in trouble. There’s minimal contact and it’s debatable whether it’s a penalty.” Kevin Holt successfully converted the first penalty kick, but his subsequent attempt was saved by Ellory Balcombe during stoppage time, prior to Emmanuel Adegboyega scoring another goal for United.