Rangers 0
Attendance 8,592
The Light Blues’ first-ever competitive game on an
artificial surface could scarcely have witnessed a
less impressive display from an Ibrox side that barely
managed a solitary effort on target throughout the
ninety minutes.
It had been all of 15 years since Dunfermline last
defeated Rangers in any game (a Scottish Cup-tie in
1988), 31 years since a win in a League fixture, and
all of 33 years since the Ibrox men last lost at East
End Park on a points-gathering mission. Indeed the
home side’s record against the League Champions was an
abysmal 8% since the introduction of the Premier
Division, but there was always the likelihood of an
upset today, given the injury-ravaged squad that
travelled to Fife. A glance at the squad numbers in
the respective line-ups underlined the state of
affairs at Ibrox with ten of the first eleven
available for Dunfermline, three for the visitors.
Manager Alex McLeish made two changes from the side
that had collapsed so dramatically on Tuesday night,
with Bob Malcolm and Paulo Vanoli replacing Maurice
Ross and Zurab Khizanishvili, against a ‘Pars’ side
playing its’ 200th home game in the Premier division,
and containing two former Rangers’ players in the
shape of Scott Wilson and Barry Nicholson.
The home side almost made a sensational start in the
opening minute when Gary Mason’s hanging cross was
turned over the bar by Stefan Klos.
The opening goal was merely delayed three minutes –
Stephen Crawford moving onto a Craig Brewster
head-flick to chip the ball over the advancing Klos.
The same combination almost made it 2-0 in seven
minutes, but this time Klos held Crawford’s shot.
Rangers were displaying little stomach or commitment
to the job in hand, being outfought and outplayed by a
‘Pars’ side that was consistently first to every ball.
Ineffective and clearly uncomfortable on the plastic
pitch, the half ended without Derek Stillie having
been tested once, and the Light Blues fortunate to be
trailing by just the one goal.
Egil Ostenstad was introduced for the restart,
replacing the ineffective Nuno Capucho, and, roared on
by the massed rank of their supporters behind the
goal, Rangers at least gave the impression of wanting
to save the game.
An inswinging Paulo Vanoli corner headed on by Bob
Malcolm found Henning Berg at the far post only for
the opportunity to take him by surprise, his header
going wide in 57 minutes.
Rangers were at least now putting some effort into
their game without threatening Stillie’s charge,
although the home goalkeeper had to be alert in 72
minutes to hold an Ostenstad header from a Burke
cross.
Immediately afterwards Shota Arveladze substituted for
the disappointing Michael Mols, with time fast running
out on the visitors.
The Georgian almost made an immediate impact, his
crossfield pass within two minutes finding Peter
Lovenkrands who homed in on goal only to see Stillie
deflect his effort wide.
Sixty seconds later Arveladze again created an opening
only to see Malcolm slice the ball wide of the target.
Shota was creating problems for the Dunfermline
defence (the only Ranger to do so all afternoon) and
he almost produced the equaliser with ten minutes
remaining only to see his goal-bound shot from
Vanoli’s cross deflected wide.
The die was cast however in 83 minutes when a Gary
Dempsey cross deflected off Fernando Ricksen’s head,
bouncing up on the artificial pitch to strike Vanoli
on the arm. Amidst appeals for a penalty the Italian
played the ball back to Klos only too realise too late
that his goalkeeper had left his line, the ball
trickling into the net via a post.
In one last despairing attempt to retrieve something
from a desperate performance, Rangers threw everyone
forward, Chris Burke’s volley from a Lovenkrands cross
flashing just over.
The final whistle brought immense scenes of joy
amongst the Dunfermline players and fans, and few
could begrudge them their success after such a long
period of time, but the unpalatable truth is that this
Rangers performance today was quite dreadful.
Later, Alex McLeish claimed:
“We did well in the second-half, dominating play, but
couldn’t find any penetration even though we pinned
Dunfermline back. We lost a bizarre second goal. We
were caught cold by the surface and the players trying
to adjust in the first-half. . This defeat makes it
hard for us, but we’ll keep fighting.”
DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC Stillie; Bullen, Wilson, Skerla,
Tod; Nicholson, Mason, Darren Young, Derek Young
(Dempsey 65); Crawford, Brewster (Hunt 76)
UNUSED SUBS Ruitenbeek, MacNicol, McDermott
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, Berg, Ball, Vanoli; Burke,
Malcolm, Hughes, Lovenkrands; Capucho (Ostenstad 45),
Mols (Arveladze 72)
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Ross, W. Gibson
REFEREE Alan Freeland