'He was in tears' - Shire left 'in disbelief' at refereeing decisions in Scottish Cup exit with consequences laid bare

​The Falkirk side, who went down to nine men on Saturday, were beaten by the Highland League outfit, who netted a last-gasp free kick to win the tie in controversial circumstances, according to the Shire official.

Dunfemline defender Young, who is on loan at the club, was shown a straight card for a dubious handball in the penalty area while late on the match, Jamie Penker was shown a second yellow for a handball just outside the area, with a shot crashing off the midfielder from close range.

“It is so tough for young Sam,” Cromar told the Falkirk Herald. “He was in bits after the game, totally inconsolable, we have a duty to protect the mental health of our young players. He was in tears. He is a young player at the start of his footballing journey and he feels like he has let the club down – but he didn’t, it simply wasn’t a sending off.

"It is one of them, there is a big consequence for Sam but no consequence for the referee or the officials, who got all of the big calls wrong. It is a tough one to take as two big errors have seen us exit the cup.

"Myself, the chairman (Simon Dickerson) and the coaching team sat down after the game and we didn’t know what to say, what could we have asked the boys to do differently? Nothing. The guys worked their socks off for the club and each other and didn't deserve the decisions that went against them.”

Cromar added: “We are trying to build the club off and on the pitch. The Scottish Cup is the big money spinner at this level and it is painful for us to go out at this stage. Berwick Rangers is the perfect example with the statement they put out after losing out in their tie – it matters so the big calls have to be right.

"You look at the draw, we may have gotten Forfar Athletic at home. That would have been a difficult but certainly winnable tie to get to the big guns like Falkirk.”

The Shire now turn their attentions back to Scottish Lowland Football League action tomorrow night (Friday), when they they face Hearts B at the Falkirk Stadium.

Cromar said ahead of that match: “We dust ourselves down and go again, getting Scotty (Scott Honeyman) back in on loan from Falkirk has given everyone a much needed boost this week and it would be great to get the fans behind us again on Friday night under the lights.

“We have also announced our charity partnership with Cash For Kids for this season and the club would like to thank everyone who attended the race night at my pub, the Canal Inn, last Friday and we raised £1050 for the charity.”