Attendance 6,798
Dunfermline Athletic 2 (Dempsey 2 {26, 66}
Rangers 3 (Ricksen 41, Burke 45, McCormack 62 Pen)
The victory was achieved espite being forced to play a full hour with ten men due to an incredible series of refereeding blunders from Aberdeen official Alan
Freeland.
Rangers' second visit to East End Park's controversial
artificial surface may have been an end-of-season
fixture, but there was no shortage of excitement in a
game played on a glorious sunny afternoon.
Naming a squad packed with players from the Under-19
team that came so close to annexing the League and Cup
Double, Manager Alex McLeish made three changes to the
side that had lost to Hearts on Wednesday with Maurice
Ross, Charlie Adam and Ross McCormack replacing Frank
De Boer, Mikel Arteta and Steven Thompson. For Charlie
Adam and Ross McCormack, the outing represented their
first starts at this level.
Dunfermline had not defeated Rangers twice in the one
season since 1966-67, but could seldom have had a
better opportunity to do just that, facing the Ibrox
men in the final League fixture for the third
successive season.
A quiet start belied the drama that was to come,
although Stevie Crawford, recently linked with a move
to Rangers, might have opened the scoring in 22
minutes when he sliced the ball wide of goal from a
Gary Dempsey pass.
Four minutes later the game exploded in controversy
when Gary Dempsey opened the scoring from a quickly
taken free-kick. The award in itself was dubious, but
what was controversial in the extreme was that the
referee allowed the kick to be taken while he was
still moving the defensive wall back the required
distance.
Ibrox Captain Michael Mols was yellow-carded for
protesting too strongly to Freeland, but what was
preposterous about the entire incident was that
Dempsey later admitted that the official had asked him
- "Do you want to take a quick free-kick?"
Presumably he then moved the Rangers' wall out of the
way.
Sixty seconds later Mols was felled by a right hook
off the ball from Richie Byrne, yet unbelievably
Freeland awarded the free-kick to the home side - only
after consultation with his assistant mind you.
Understandably incensed with the appalling refereeing,
Mols then fouled Dempsey. The tackle was late, but
hardly malicious, yet the referee - now losing the
place completely - decided that it merited a second
yellow card and ordered Mols off, on his final
appearance for the club.
Rangers were up against it, yet came surging back in
courageous fashion against all the odds - Fernando
Ricksen equalising in 41 minutes with a 25-yard drive
from a Chris Burke back-heel that was the culmination
of a mazy run.
Suddenly the Ibrox youngsters were invigorated, and on
the stroke of half-time Burke scored with a
magnificent goal when he weaved his way through the
Pars defence from a Ross McCormack pass before
chipping the ball over the head of Derek Stillie.
The 'Gers fans were in good voice throughout the
interval, and despite their one-man handicap were in
control as the second-half unfolded.
Ricksen was now wearing the captain's armband, and was
setting an excellent example as he drove the team
forward.
Craig Brewster tested Allan McGregor in 51 minutes
with a twenty-yard drive, then five minutes later
another bizarre refereeing decision almost cost
Rangers the lead when, having indicated a foul deep in
the Dunfermline half, Freeland then penalised Zurab
Khizanishvili for picking the ball up with his hands.
In a lightning break, ex-Ranger Barry Nicholson
combined with Crawford only to be denied by McGregor.
McCormack was inches wide with a twenty-yard shot from
a long McGregor clearance in 58 minutes, yet in what
was now a thrilling end-to-end encounter Crawford
played a one-two with Brewster on the hour only to
shoot wildly over.
Alan Freeland finally got a decision right in 62
minutes when he awarded Rangers a penalty for
Nicholson's scything tackle on McCormack. Ross himself
grabbed the ball and coolly slotted the ball home,
then was immediately substituted by Peter Lovenkrands.
Four minutes later the Fife club reduced the deficit
through yet another dubiously-awarded free-kick -
Dempsey again finding the net with a curling effort
that McGregor should certainly have prevented.
Burke almost restored the two-goal lead in 79 minutes
when taking a pass from the outstanding Ricksen, he
beat two defenders before seeing his chip held by
Stillie.
There was yet another injury blow for the Light Blues
two minutes later when Lovenkrands limped off with a
hip injury to be replaced by debutant Bob Davidson.
In the dying seconds Dempsey almost snatched the
equaliser, and his hat-trick, only to see his
close-range effort blocked by McGregor.
Manager Alex McLeish afterwards reflected:
"The young players did Rangers proud. They showed
character and heart. Michael Mols is surely entitled
to get stuck in. He is devastated at what happened.
Both he and Fernando Ricksen have played the whole
season for me."
Whilst Rangers' season has now thankfully ended,
Dunfermline of course have the Cup Final to look
forward to. Whilst all friends of Rangers wish them
well, they must regret that they will not have the
help of Alan Freeland at Hampden.
DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC Stillie; Bullen, Skerla, Labonte,
Byrne (Tod 69); Nicholson, Mason, Derek Young
(Kilgannon 69), Dempsey; Crawford, Brewster (Clarke
84)
UNUSED SUBS Thomson, Greenhill
RANGERS McGregor; Ross (McKenzie 83), Hutton,
Khizanishvili, Vanoli; Burke, Ricksen, Hughes, Adam;
Mols, McCormack (Lovenkrands 62 {Davidson 81})
UNUSED SUBS Robinson, Fetai
REFEREE Alan Freeland