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Referee fails to send player off for 'two footed lunge' right in front of his face

Scottish football is known for it's physicality, but even former Celtic midfielder Scott Brown was left furious with a tackle carried out on his player

[A picture of Dean McMaster flying into a challenge on Harry McHugh]

The tackles were flying in the Scottish Championship(Image: BBC)

Former Celtic midfielder Scott Brown was furious after a two-footed lunge on his player went unpunished.

The former Bhoys skipper is now the manager of Ayr United, who are fighting for promotion in the Scottish Championship. They managed to grab an impressive 2-1 home victory over Airdrieonians to move up to sixth place.

Yet, Brown was seething with a two-footed challenge from Dean McMaster on Harry McHugh. Despite the referee being less than five yards away from the flashpoint, the Airdrieonians midfielder remained on the pitch, to the fury of Brown.

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When a loose ball rolled into a space in the middle of the pitch, both McMaster and McHugh went in for a 50/50 challenge. While McHugh slid in, hoping to poke the ball away to a team-mate, McMaster lunged in with both feet off the ground.

It was a tackle which immediately triggered a furious backlash from Ayr players, who were incensed with the recklessness of the challenge. McHugh was only given a yellow card for the stomach churning tackle by referee David Munro.

One fan wrote: "Just when you think Scottish refs couldnt get any worse, thats given as a yellow." A second added: "Comedy refereeing again. Then again it's not funny that's a potential leg breaker and like the referee's performance the tackle goes unpunished."

Do you think it was a red card? Let us know in the comment section below

[Deam McMaster jumps into a tackle with both feet on Ayr United midfielder Harry McHugh]

The air time on the tackle was extraordinary(Image: BBC)

A third added: "Is the ref blind he's right there two footed off the ground how is that not a red." A particularly angry fourth also said: "That's like one of those crazy Sunday league tackles that pop up on your timeline! He's airborne going in!"

Luckily for Brown, his side managed to come back from behind to secure a 2-1 victory against their promotion rivals. Second half goals from Anton Dowds and Sean McGinty cancelled out a first-half strike from Josh O'Connor.

Yet, there was only one thing on Brown's mind at the end of the match. "The tackle on Harry near the end was a disgrace," the ex-Celtic man, who was partial to a fierce challenge himself, said after the match.

[Scott Brown talking to BBC Scotland after Ayr United's victory over Airdrieonians]

Brown did not hide his anger(Image: BBC )

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"It could have ended someone's career. The referee is stood yards away from it and thought it was a yellow, which I don't understand."

When asked about the incident, Airdrieonians player manager Rhys McCabe said: "I haven't seen it back but if it's a bad one I'll make sure I speak to Dean. That's certainly not something I'm for or encourage my players to do."

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