St Mirren ballboy subbed during match vs Rangers after incident in eighth minute, the referee was fuming

A ballboy was given his marching orders in the opening stages of Sunday's Scottish Premiership clash between St Mirren and Rangers.

With eight minutes on the clock at the SMISA Stadium, Rangers full-back Leon Balogun jogged over to the Main Stand to take a throw-in.

Having made a quick dash to the touchline, it looked like play would resume almost immediately.

But in an unexpected twist, the ball boy threw the ball to one side. Balogun looked far from impressed and mockingly applauded his actions.

And moments later, the Sky Sports cameras caught the reaction of referee Nick Walsh, who appeared to signal for those in the stadium to take action.

Soon, the youngster was escorted from the pitch by security as the travelling support delivered a smattering of pantomime boos.

Sky Sports commentator Rory Hamilton explained the debacle on air.

"I think the booing is for the substitution of a ballboy," he said. "Our friend with the mohawk is being moved somewhere else."

Sky then broadcast footage of the ballboy being walked round the side of the pitch. You can watch that moment below.

Ball boy throwing the ball away is quality 🤣 Can’t believe they subbed him🙈 pic.twitter.com/LZFWCVPRMN

— Michael McCahill (@MichaelMcCahi10) April 28, 2024

Here's how fans on social media reacted to the incident.

One said: "That ball boy with the mohawk is a future St Mirren captain methinks," while another wrote: "Next level trolling from St Mirren’s ball boy here."

A third commented: "Legend status achieved for this St Mirren ballboy."

A fourth said: "Hard to believe that the referee asked for the ballboy to be removed, although was he not the same ref who asked Barry Robson to ask the Aberdeen ball boys to speed up."

A fifth added: "So far this ballboy has my vote for the Man of the Match award."

St Mirren went 1-0 down after the half hour mark following an own goal from James Bolton but the home side equalised shortly after through Mikael Mandron. Cyriel Dessers then headed in the winner for Rangers.