Prunty Shins Gers
Another remarkable result in a memorable week. Everyone knew that the team was playing well but few thought Caley Thistle could take anything from the Ibrox cauldron.
When Barry Ferguson broke the deadlock in 57 minutes it looked like going according to the script, but Rangers could not kill the visitors off, the home crowd grew restless and Caley Thistle were rewarded for their diligence with a last minute Bryan Prunty equaliser. Prunty's first goal for the club created a sensation nationally and was a severe blow to Rangers title hopes.
Caley Thistle made one change from the team that beat Hibs in midweek with the injured Craig Brewster making way for Graham Bayne. Rangers dropped Michael Ball to the bench and brought in Swedish winger Bojan Djordjic. Steven Thompson replaced the suspended Dado Prso.
It was Thompson who had the first effort on goal in 13 minutes but he headed wide. This was followed quickly by a Nacho Novo shot that flew wide. Juanjo chipped wide at the other end after turning Marvin Andrews in the box then a Novo drive was beaten away by Mark Brown.
Novo hit over in 29 minutes, but little made it past either defence before the interval. With the whistle looming Grant Munro headed wide for ICT.
Half Time: 0-0
Rangers pushed forward after the break but Mark Brown saved from Novo, Fernando Ricksen shot over and Novo hit wide before Ferguson gave Rangers the lead in 57 minutes. A pass from Ricksen cleared the Caley Thistle defence and Ferguson neatly sent an angled chip over Mark Brown, his first goal since rejoining Rangers from Blackburn.
Richie Hart shot over in 70 minutes then Brown collected from Thomas Buffel. Hart hit wide in 78 minutes and a Novo effort cleared the bar. Waterreus blocked a shot from on loan Ranger Bajram Fetai then a Darren Dods shot was cleared. With four minutes left Novo should have secured a win for Rangers. He was one-on-one with Mark Brown but the former Ibrox keeper saved the day with his legs.
Caley Thistle's strong finish earned an equaliser from substitute Bryan Prunty in the dying seconds. A long ball from Grant Munro came off the back of Gregory Vignal and Prunty bundled it home with what appeared to be his shins.
Full Time: 1-1
Despite the welcome point, Livingston's win at Dundee reduced the gap between eighth and twelfth to eight points. Livingston share bottom place with Dundee United. On the other hand the optimists will point out that ICT are just two points off seventh spot. Now for Hearts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rangers: 1 (Ferguson 57)
Team: Waterreus; Ross, Andrews, Kyrgiakos, Vignal, Buffel, Ricksen, Ferguson,
Djordjic (Malcolm 53), Novo, Thompson.
Subs Not Used: McGregor; Rae, Burke, Ball, Namouchi, McCormack. - Booked: Kyrgiakos (41).
Inverness CT: 1 (Prunty 90)
Team: Brown; Tokely, Dods, Munro, Golabek, Wilson (Fatai 70), Hart, McBain, Duncan, Juanjo,
Bayne (Prunty 74).
Subs Not Used: Fraser; McCaffrey, Hastings, Proctor, Black. - Booked: McBain (60), Hart (60).
Attendance: 49,345 - Referee: Mike Ritchie
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now