TALKING RANGERS
PEDRO CAIXINHA’S Rangers caravan may have weathered the odd bump in the road over recent weeks, and a trip up the A9 to face Ross County was hardly a journey that promised smooth progress either.
But in the end, despite the occasional wobble, the Ibrox side prevailed.
Whether this performance stops the dogs barking is open to debate, but there was certainly one very embarrassed Fox in attendance.
Alfredo Morelos hit a firsthalf double, getting the ball rolling for Rangers with a fine header, and he was gifted a second before the interval after an incredible error from County keeper Scott Fox. More about that later.
Incredibly, Rangers were rocking at the start of the second half as Thomas Mikkelsen had the freedom of the visitors’ area to drag Ross County back into it with a good header.
There were some further potential potholes and pitfalls for Rangers to negotiate, but substitute Eduardo Herrera popped up in the last minute of normal time to put the seal on a deserved three points.
The pattern of the opening period was set early, with County camped in for the most part and Rangers making much of the running towards their goal without creating anything to worry Fox all that much.
Some wayward efforts from range were the sum of their efforts until James Tavernier went a little closer with a fizzing shot from 25 yards that was a yard or so too high.
Morelos almost had a clear sight of goal soon after, but his drive was blocked brilliantly by Marcus Fraser, before Tavernier’s sliding block denied Ryan Dow at the other end in a rare County threat.
Rangers made the breakthrough after half an hour, with Daniel Candeias inviting Tavernier to hit the byline and the full-back clipping a delightful ball into the centre of the box, where Morelos sprung above Fraser to power a great header low past the despairing dive of Fox.
County manager Jim McIntyre took off midfielder Jamie Lindsay and threw on attacker Thomas Mikkelsen before the break in an attempt to alter the flow of the game, but still Rangers poured forward.
IT DIDN’T seem as if the visitors would need much help in finding a second, but County obliged in any case as goalkeeper Fox had an absolute nightmare to gift Morelos another goal.
A shocker of a backpass from Fraser had the County number one scrambling under pressure from Morelos, and he initially did well to turn the Rangers striker and buy a bit of time.
He didn’t factor in, though, that Morelos might actually get back to his feet, and as he surveyed the scene to look for a pass, the Colombian simply took the ball from his toes and passed it into the empty net. It was an utter howler, and the game looked dead and buried at that point.
It might have got worse for the home side when Andrew Davies led with an elbow into a challenge on Kenny Miller.
Luckily for the County captain, however, referee Craig Thomson took mercy on him and showed only a yellow card.
County made more of a battle of it in the middle of the park at the start of the second half after what was likely a lively address from manager McIntyre at the break.
Pressure from Craig Curran almost forced Tavernier to hook the ball into his own net, and on the hour, the home side had clawed their way back into it.
Michael Gardyne released Curran down the right, and he lifted his head to pick out the unchallenged run of Mikkelsen, who had acres to plant a well-placed header into the bot- tom corner beyond Foderingham. Youngster Davis KeillorDunn then tested Foderingham with a free-kick before Davies took too long when the ball fell to him in the Rangers area, but from nowhere, the visitors were suddenly wobbling.
The Ross County skipper was handed another reprieve by Craig Thomson when he jumped and punched the ball in the Rangers area, but the