Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 (Dods 41, Rankin 89) - Rangers 1 (Novo Pen 21)
Attendance 7,522
It was a diabolical performance from the Ibrox men,
who too often came off second best in terms of effort
and commitment in front of a record crowd of 7,522 at
the Caledonian Stadium.
Manager Paul Le Guen made one change from Aberdeen
with Filip Sebo replacing the injured Dado Prso.
It was the home side who made the early running
- a second minute Wilson corner, flicked on at
the near post by Bayne, was only just outwith the
reach of Dennis Wyness as Allan McGregor gathered the
loose ball.
Two minutes later Rankin fired over from a Wyness
cross.
Rangers finally found their bearings - a Jeremy
Clement - Sebo move finding Nacho Novo who was
denied by home goalkeeper Mark Brown.
Sixty seconds later Libor Sionko headed just over from
a Sasa Papac cross as the visitors went all out for
the opener.
Charlie Adam tested former Ibrox goalkeeper Mark Brown
in fifteen minutes with a twenty-yard shot following a
Barry Ferguson - Novo move down the left.
The deadlock was broken six minutes later from the
penalty spot with Novo converting the spot-kick after
Roy McBain had blatantly shoved Ferguson in the back.
Caley responded - and four minutes later Barry
Wilson's eighteen-yarder from a Ross Tokely
cross produced a superb one-handed save from McGregor.
The visiting goalkeeper again proved equal to the task
on the half-hour mark when he denied Dennis Wyness
after the striker had cut in from the left.
Rangers appeared the likelier to notch a killer second
however - four minutes later Alan Hutton's
25-yard shot from a Ferguson pass being held by Brown.
The scores were levelled in 41 minutes when
Wilson's corner broke to Darren Dods on the edge
of the box, the Inverness Captain breaking through to
net off the underside of the bar.
With the match all square at the interval, the
expected Rangers resurgence failed to materialise
after the restart, there being an inexplicable
lethargy about the visitors' play - and as
the second-half developed the home side came more and
more into the game, perhaps sensing that it was there
for the taking.
John Rankin came close in 65 minutes when he fired
across the face of goal without any takers, then two
minutes later Ian Black's angled drive was
beaten away by McGregor.
It was one-way traffic at this juncture, with the
Light Blues failing to offer more than a modicum of
resistance - McGregor again keeping his side on
level terms in seventy minutes when he clawed away a
twenty-yard drive from Wyness.
Sixty seconds later there was a welcome return for
Chris Burke when he replaced Sionko.
Brown was finally tested in the second-half when he
held Ferguson's thirty-yard free-kick in 76
minutes.
Six minutes later Steve Lennon made his first-team
debut when he substituted for Novo. It was a bizarre
decision by Le Guen, for what could the youngster be
expected to achieve in eight minutes?
Just when the game appeared to be heading for a 1-1
draw, Rankin broke through the middle to net with a
25-yard shot over the stranded McGregor for the
winning goal.
It was a dreadful end to what had been an appalling
performance from the visitors, as the Caledonian fans
celebrated a memorable win for their club.
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE Brown; Tokely, Dods,
Munro, Hastings; Wilson (Morgan 77), Rankin, Black,
McBain; Bayne, Wyness
UNUSED SUBS Fraser, McCaffrey, Duncan, McSwegan,
Sutherland, McAllister
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Hemdani, Svensson, Papac;
Sionko (Burke 71), Ferguson, Clement, Adam; Novo
(Lennon 82), Sebo
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Rae, Murray, Stanger, N'Diaye
REFEREE Craig Thomson