A CONTROVERSIAL blunder involving Rangers cult hero Kyle Lafferty has ended with his current club being hit with a fine and a points deduction. The Northern Irishman was erroneously subbed on in a match for Johnstone Burgh against Darvel in the West of Scotland Premier Division last month - leading to sheer chaos. Not only did putting Lafferty on take Burgh over the quota of five substitutions, he went on to win his side a penalty before the referee realised the mistake. Johnstone Burgh were then allowed to REVERSE the change and take off the ex-Hearts and Killie forward. But the penalty was allowed to stand, much to the horror of their opponents. And then to compound the error, Burgh scored the penalty and would go on to win the game (at the time of the decision, Darvel were 1-0 up). Vale boss Michael Oliver said after the match: "The referee ruined the game, we've ultimately been cheated. I can't stand here and say anything else. "We're winning 1-0 and really comfortable, they might have had more of the ball but they weren't hurting us. "They missed one big chance from a header that they should score but other than that our goalkeeper had one really good save. "If you can come through a game here and say that about your goalie then you've done well. "Look, it's a disgrace really. I'm kind of lost for words, actually. "I feel sick and it almost makes you not want to be involved in football if referees can as bad as that, it's honestly incredible." Oliver also called out Johnstone Burgh for making the substitution in the first place, and demanded to know how they'd be able to get away with it. He said: "It's on them as well, how can they make six subs and just get away with it? "I don't know what else to say. I'm absolutely sick about the full thing." Oliver described the penalty as perhaps the most controversial he'd ever seen in the circumstances. He said: "It's probably the most controversial penalty you'll ever see. "I don't think you'll see another one. "They've literally subbed a player on, allowed him to go into the box, put the ball on his head, he knocks it down and it's apparently a handball. "The linesman on the far side said it wasn't a handball and he's closer to it than the referee, they then sub the player back OFF and they score the penalty. "So I don't know, are we playing hockey or rugby now? "Genuinely that's what that was like. "You'll never see it again in your life. "It's like having a set play specialist, you win a free-kick 25 yards from goal and you're specialist isn't playing but you're allowed to sub him on to take the free-kick and then sub him back off. "It's honestly incredible and I don't know what can be done about it. "And certainly whatever does get done about it, it won't go in our favour. "If that doesn't happen, we win that game. I'm confident we win that game 1-0 and we'd be going home with a deserved three points. "It's just really hard to take." Darvel immediately set about lodging an appeal with the league. The Ayrshire club released a statement saying: "Darvel Football Club is very disappointed that the result of today's match at Johnstone Burgh was unfairly influenced by the introduction of a sixth substitute by Johnstone Burgh, in breach of the IFAB laws and WOSFL rules. "That this breach of the laws was not identified by the SFA match officials is also disappointing. We are presently considering our options and have informed the WOSFL as such." Now, following a league hearing last night, WOSFL chiefs have hit Johnstone Burgh with a three-point deduction and a £100 fine. Many Darvel fans had called for the game to be replayed as they effectively went from a winning position to a losing one in part due to the substitution gaffe. Darvel are still bottom of the league and facing relegation as a result, but they do have games in hand on some of the teams above them. Vale's struggles come just a few years after they shocked Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup and less than 12 months after they won the Scottish Junior Cup. Johnstone Burgh go from 45 points to 42, putting them level with Troon in third and now 25 points behind runaway leaders Clydebank. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page