SFA to look into crowd trouble at cup semi-final

Referee Craig Thomson picks up an object thrown on to the pitch during the CIS Insurance Cup match between Aberdeen and Dundee United (PA)

The Scottish Football Association are set to investigate crowd misbehaviour during Tuesday night's CIS Insurance Cup semi-final between Aberdeen and Dundee United at Tynecastle.

Both clubs could be in trouble after incidents marred United's 4-1 win over the Pittodrie men. Objects were thrown at referee Iain Brines by supporters in the Aberdeen end of the stadium as he sent off Dons striker Lee Miller for a challenge on United defender Darren Dods.

And the game in Edinburgh was briefly halted with Aberdeen leading 1-0 after Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield was pelted by missiles, including what appeared to be a plastic cup.

The SFA await the match report from Brines but it is likely that it will mention the crowd trouble. The matter would then be referred to the SFA's disciplinary committee which meets again in mid-March, where appropriate punishments would be handed out if either, or both clubs, are found guilty.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood refused to blame the defeat on the missile-throwing incident.

He said: "That would be sad if it affected his concentration. You need to get on with it. It was only a carton of milk."

Calderwood instead has urged his players to be aware it was their costly mistakes which brought them down, and he has told his players they must now lift themselves ahead of this weekend's Premier League game against Celtic, which is followed by the Uefa Cup tie against Bayern Munich.

Calderwood said: "We keep trying to lift them but it has to come from within. They need to take responsibility, we keep telling them about mistakes.

"The last two years we would never have lost like that after taking the lead. We might have drawn 1-1 but never get beaten like that."

The evening had started so well for Aberdeen, who took the lead through Andrew Considine, before a foul from the same player allowed United back into the game through Darren Dods. Christian Kalvenes – making his first appearance since November – and Craig Conway helped themselves to a goal apiece before Morgaro Gomis took advantage of a woeful back-pass by Dons captain Scott Severin to seal the win.

Calderwood said: "I thought we started fairly well and United came back into it. We got the goal and looked to have the confidence. Then big Andrew [Considine] made a stupid mistake pushing someone, it lets Dundee United get their big players up and we defended far too deep.

"It was a dead-ball situation for the second one, we gave away a corner, Jamie [Langfield] mis-kicked it, they get a corner, it's 2-1. The third and fourth – we were here at Tynecastle two months ago making individual errors and it was the same tonight. For the third nobody took control.

"The fourth probably summed up our night. Severin, who had done quite well, gives a stupid pass when he could have cleared it himself."

Calderwood admitted that Miller's red card with more than 20 minutes to go, for two bookings, hampered the team's cause.

Calderwood said: "Big Lee gets himself stupidly sent off – I thought the first [booking] was harsh, but in that situation you need to keep a cool head."

His United counterpart Craig Levein labelled the victory "beyond my wildest dreams" as he looked ahead to the cup final against Rangers at Hampden Park on 16 March.

He said: "I'm chuffed to bits with the way we played and the way we approached the game. We showed determination and character when we went behind. Everything went to plan.

"We have been pretty resilient, even on Saturday when we didn't play well. I told them we would play better, I knew we would and we certainly did that.

"To come out and dominate a game against a very good Aberdeen side was beyond my wildest dreams."