RANGERS recorded their second draw in a row as they failed to break down Jimmy Nicholl’s Cowdenbeath in today’s Championship clash at Central Park.
On a frustrating afternoon in Fife the Light Blues stuttered throughout a disappointing 90 minutes and couldn’t produce the quality required in the last third of the pitch to collect all three points.
While yesterday’s EGM helped to lift spirits ahead of today’s fixture the match itself was of a poor standard albeit the blustery conditions certainly played a part in that.
After suffering a 10-0 defeat to Hearts last weekend Cowden boss Nicholl will undoubtedly be the happier of the two managers after today’s game while Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan, who were sitting in the stands, will be disappointed the Gers players couldn’t reward fans with a victory after yesterday’s board announcements.
As already mentioned the wind was always going to make this afternoon’s game tricky for both sets of players and after just a couple of minutes Cowdenbeath keeper Robbie Thomson had to keep his concentration as he clutched a Lee Wallace cross which curled wickedly under his cross bar at his back post.
Rangers were creating the better chances in the early stages and after Kris Boyd had blasted a right-foot shot over Kenny Miller clipped the side netting with a shot from the left after good link-up play with Haris Vuckic.
Miller certainly looked in the mood on his return to the starting eleven and after cutting in from the left he tried his luck with a bending effort from 20 yards which went narrowly over before Boyd did the same with a tough volley at full stretch from Lee Wallace’s cross.
Boyd was taking up good positions and when a long ball was played up to him and flew over the head of a defender, his touch was perfect but defender John Armstrong was there was to make a magnificent last-ditch tackle which left the Gers striker in considerable pain on the treacherous Central Park turf.
Before the half-hour mark Rangers kept pushing forward in a bid to break the deadlock with Nicky Clark’s clipped effort hitting off the head of keeper Thomson before going out for a corner.
Darren McGregor also tried his luck with a 35-yard rocket which flew past the post with a gale force gust of wind putting a bit of extra pace on the ball as it clattered into the white race track wall behind the goal.
Rangers without question dominated the first half but they couldn’t get their noses in front before the break.
Lee McCulloch clattered the bar with a glancing header from Nicky Law’s corner before Stephen Finnie’s whistle for the break which meant McDowall’s men had it all to do in the second period with the wind battering into their faces.
Having not taken advantage of the conditions in the opening 45 it was now Cowdenbeath’s turn to see what they could do.
After five minutes a long throw in was met by skipper Armstrong but his looping header dipped over Lee Robinson and landed on the roof of the net.
With the pitch cutting up even more players were now finding it hard to keep their feet never mind control the ball as it bobbled up with every pass. That, of course, was the same for both sides but it didn’t help the quality of football on display.
With 60 minutes on the clock Rangers were in desperate need of a spark and Miller tried to supply when he moved out to the left wing to collect the ball. He then delivered an accurate cross into the box for Clark but his header was easily held by Thomson. This was to be one of the rare moments the home side’s keeper was tested.
The first substitutions were then made by the visitors with Dean Shiels and Jon Daly going on for Boyd and Miller but as the game went into the latter stages Cowdenbeath’s players showed their mettle by throwing their bodies in front of every cross and shot Rangers could muster.
With this being the case it was the home fans who were celebrating at the final whistle with the travelling bears left wondering what could have been if first-half chances, in particular, had been taken. COWDENBEATH (5-3-2): Thomson; Brett, Brownlie, Armstrong, Wedderburn, Adamson; Herron, O’Brien, Milne; Nish, Higgins (Oyenuga 82)SUBS: Sneddon, Kane, Miller, Robertson, Hughes, Buchanan
RANGERS (4-2-3-1): Robinson; McGregor, McCulloch, Zaliukas, Wallace; Law, Hutton; Clark, Miller (Daly 67), Vuckic (Smith 79); Boyd (Shiels 67)SUBS: Simonsen, Templeton, Murdoch, Walsh
ATT: 3,244REF: Stephen Finnie