Former Premier League ref believes VAR was 'incredibly harsh' to rule out St Mirren striker Jonah Ayunga's goal

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Former English Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher insists St Mirren striker Jonah Ayunga's goal against Dundee United should have stood.

The Buddies forward was already celebrating after firing his side back in the lead against Dundee United on Saturday afternoon before VAR Alan Muir got involved.The video assistant called referee Grant Irvine to watch back footage of an alleged foul by Buddies midfielder Keanu Baccus on Terrors defender Aziz Behich, who went down theatrically despite minimal contact being made.Speaking on his Sky Sports Ref Watch show, Gallagher felt the incident wasn't strong enough to see the strike chalked off, particularly given the length of time between the offence and Ayunga eventually rippling the net.Gallagher told Sky Sports: "It's incredibly harsh for two reasons.

I think it's fifteen seconds in the build up and when you look at all of this going on in the game, I think it's one that they (Scottish referees) will learn from."Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water, this is one decision that I personally disagreed with."I think it was too long (between the contact and the goal).

Once it settles down, they'll debrief and everything, he's in his own half."Are you going to go back that far? I think not, I think goal."The SFA did confirm ahead of VAR's introduction in Scotland that footage would be used as far back as when the attacking team first gained possession.READ MORE: