RANGERS had to settle for a point after Rory Loy’s header cancelled out Darren McGregor’s opening goal at a rain-soaked Westfield.
On 20 minutes the Gers centre half put the visitors ahead when he blasted a low shot past Jamie MacDonald. Falkirk, however, had been the better side up to that point and almost immediately they got back on level terms when Loy nodded in an equaliser.
At this stage you felt more goals would follow but despite both teams putting in plenty of graft throughout an often fiery encounter the scoreline stayed at 1-1 with Rangers unable to record back-to-back Championship victories following their win seven days ago at Raith.
Kenny McDowall was forced to make three changes to his team this evening with Lee McCulloch (neck) and Lee Wallace (hamstring) injured and Marius Zaliukas recovering from the flu.
As a result Bilel Mohsni returned to the side having recently returned from African Cup of Nations duty with Tunisia while Steven Smith and McGregor were also named in the starting eleven.
Falkirk, unbeaten in eight games going into tonight’s fixture, started the 90 minutes brightly with former Ger Loy darting down the left wing before fizzing a low delivery across Lee Robinson’s six-yard box.
With Loy and John Baird up top, Peter Houston has two hard working runners and it was clear early on that the four midfielders behind them – Taiwo, Kerr, Vaulks and Sibbald – would push up to support them at every opportunity.
At the other end of the pitch Rangers also had plenty of attacking quality but on 20 minutes it was McGregor who broke the deadlock with a finish skipper for the night Kris Boyd or Nicky Clark would have been proud of.
The ball bobbled about in the 18 yard box after a free kick had been played in and when it broke to McGregor at the back post he blasted a powerful drive beyond MacDonald to the delight of the travelling Bears.
Their joy, however, was to be short-lived as the Bairns equalised just two minutes later through Loy. The striker got in front of Mohsni to connect with a cross and his header gave Robinson no chance as it nestled in the corner of the net.
To concede so quickly after going in front was certainly a blow for the Light Blues but they immediately looked to get in front again and came close to doing just that.
Nicky Law’s deep cross to the back post reached Boyd who stretched his neck to angle a header towards the top corner of the net. MacDonald, however, did well to tip the ball away to safety from underneath his cross bar.
It was proving to be an action packed opening 45 and before the game had reached the half hour mark Will Vaulks powered a shot from distance which went inches wide of Robinson’s right-hand post.
Before the end of the half the standard of the play took a dip with a few more passes going astray and fewer goalscoring opportunities being created.
Before Willie Collum’s whistle, however, Rangers conjured up a chance for Boyd as they moved swiftly up the park. The ball went out wide to Smith and his cross arrived at the striker’s feet. His first attempt was sclaffed but his second, from a tight angle, brought out a good save from MacDonald at his near post.
With no changes made to either team at the break the players had to quickly get back into their strike on what was a bitterly cold night.
Straight away the home side did that with Loy, with his back to goal, teeing up onrushing left back Leahy but his shot from 25 yards soared high and wide.
Falkirk continued to try and play the ball on the deck on their slick artificial surface but Rangers were now working exceptionally hard to close the Bairns players down. The first 15 minutes of the second period, as a result, were scrappy with both teams showing more graft than flair.
Robinson was tested in the 65th minute, the keeper getting down well to deny Baird after he had skipped inside two defenders before trying to find the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards.
The Gers keeper then had to be sharp again when he made a fine one-handed stop from Loy to keep the score level.
With the clock ticking down McDowall made his first change with 15 minutes remaining with Kenny Miller replacing Haris Vuckic before Andy Murdoch made way for David Templeton.
With the game opening up in the latter stages you wondered if there would be one last twist in the tale to this hard-fought contest. It wasn’t to be, however, and McDowall and his players had to settle for just a point on what proved to be a tough and, ultimately, frustrating night.
FALKIRK (4-4-2): MacDonald; Duffie, McCracken, Grant, Leahy; Taiwo (Alston 73), Kerr, Vaulks, Sibbald (Smith 85); Loy Baird (Morgan 80)
SUBS: Bowman, Dick, Maybury, Cooper
GOALS: Loy 22
RANGERS (4-4-2): Robinson; Faure, Mohsni, McGregor, Smith; Law, Murdoch (Templeton 76), Hutton, Vuckic (Miller 75); Boyd, Clark
SUBS: Simonsen, Daly, Shiels, Halkett, Walsh
GOALS: McGregor 20
REF: Willie Collum