Thistle attack leniency to Gascoigne

Jim Oliver, the Partick Thistle chairman, yesterday hit out at Scottish referees, whom he accused of favouring the bigger clubs.

Jim McGilvray, the Edinburgh referee, has sparked a storm by quitting his job as a Grade One referee north of the border. McGilvray said he could no longer carry on as a "robot" under Scottish Football Association guidelines.

His handling of a recent Partick-Rangers match in the Bell's Scottish League Premier Division at Firhill is at the centre of the controversy. During the champions' 2-1 win, McGilvray booked Paul Gascoigne for leaving the field to celebrate his first goal with visiting fans.

But the referee has revealed he later decided against showing Gascoigne the red card for two bookable offences because of his perceived injustice for the first yellow card.

Oliver said yesterday that Thistle should perhaps campaign for the Rangers match to be replayed because of McGilvray's admissions.