Set in an atmosphere of Old Firm segregation it was little wonder the hardest working man on the field was referee Alasdair Ross as both sides went at each other 'Hammer and Tongs' from the first whistle.
The Light Blues did have the first chance of the match early on when Andy Shinnie went close from one of the many free kicks awarded after Isa Bagci was shoved going for a high ball.
The match was being bogged down in midfield and with constant interruptions for fouls but finally came to life on the half hour. Just 4 minutes after Richard Towell was shown the first yellow card of the game a Steven Kinniburgh free kick to the far post saw the ball deflected onto the onrushing Andy Shinnie who slid the ball home past Paul Skinner to put the young 'Gers into the lead.
That lead only lasted a minute as a long hopeful shot struck the crossbar and fell to Kevin Cawley, as the home defence failed to clear the danger the young Celt forced the ball home past the despairing Gallacher to level the match.
Andy Shinnie did have another chance tp put the Light Blues back in the lead before the break but on this occasion his headed effort went wide.
Half Time - Rangers 1 Celtic 1
It only took two minutes of the second half for Rangers to regain the lead when Isa Bagci was played into the box by Giorgis Efrem, the big Swede steadied himself as Skinner tried to narrow the angle and slotted the ball past Celtic stopper to put the 'Gers back in front.
Celtic started to force the home defence further back as they piled on the pressure to get the elusive equaliser. It was looking desperate on the 65th minute as the Hoops forced 2 corners in succession, the second resulting in a goal line clearance from substitute Chris Craig who had just the fray a minute earlier.
The match did burst into excitement again when on the 73rd minute when a cross into the box saw Celtic substitute Luca Santonocito unmarked and despite the initial block by Gallacher the Italian netted at the second attempt to level the scores again.
Two minutes later the home side were awarded a penalty after Ross Harvey was brought down as he tried to weave his way into the box. It was up to John Fleck to repeat his performance against Hibs the previous winner and net the match winner from the spot. The diminutive striker made no mistake as he finished with aplomb and sent Skinner the wrong way.
To Celtic's credit they didn't give up and on the 78th minute Graham Carey hit a tremendous shot from 45 yards out which dipped at the last moment to deceive Gallacher and level the sides for the third, and final, time in the match.
The Teams;
Rangers - Gallacher, Forbes, Kinniburgh, Wilson, Harvey, Ness, Kindbendiksen (Craig 64), Shinnie, Bagci, Fleck, Efrem.
Subs not used - Vaiculis, McShea, Little, Donald, Mitchetslaeger, Wylde
Celtic - Skinner, Towell (Lafferty 61), Monti, Marr, Gaughan, Hepburn, Graham (Santonocito 55), Tidser (Connell 72), Bunting, Cawley, Carey,
Subs not used - Hall, Foley, Ross, Keating
Referee - Alasdair Ross
Assistants - Michael Monaghan & Gerry Durning
© Iain McKee, 13th October 2007