Lacklustre visitors denied at the last by Callachan Rice’s men earn battling draw as champions-elect suffer an off day
THE countdown continues. There is no conundrum when it comes to the Premiership title race, however, as the clock ticks towards Rangers’ crowning moment.
The length of the Premiership table separated Steven Gerrard’s side and Hamilton Accies before kickoff. Come the end of this fixture, there was nothing between them on the park as the points were shared.
It was a result that Hamilton will feel they deserved and one which will leave Rangers – who had taken the lead through Brian Easton’s own goal late on – undoubtedly aggrieved, being denied at the death as Ross Callachan netted in the final seconds.
The big picture remains the same, though. Rangers will win the title and are just six victories away from getting over the finishing line.
At the other end of the table, Brian Rice will hope that this battling draw can be the foundation upon which Hamilton can build as they look to avoid relegation once again. On this determined showing, they certainly have a chance.
Rangers will continue to stick to their “one game at a time” mantra until the final points are secured. That moment will arrive in a matter of weeks and, come the final reckoning, forgettable afternoons such as this will not matter in the grand scheme of things.
The goals and the drama would come late in what was largely wretched encounter. The blustery wind that further emphasised the freezing temperatures in Lanarkshire did not help, but Rangers especially should have been far better.
Accies certainly lacked quality, but there was an endeavour in the way they pressed that would have encouraged boss Rice. There was no sign that their lowly league position was having an adverse impact mentally, at least.
This was always going to
abe a far different fixture to the 8-0 at Ibrox earlier in the campaign, but Gerrard would have expected more from his side. Rangers did have a couple of openings just before the break, but the championselect were mostly lethargic and uninspiring. Had Accies shown more composure in the final third, they could have had a surprise lead. Bruce Anderson could not convert either of their chances, though.
The first arrived after 11 minutes when he combined well with Marios Ogkmpoe and saw an effort from the edge of the area deflected wide of Allan McGregor’s right-hand post. Later in the half, he had an even clearer sight of the target after Connor Goldson and Filip Helander conceded cheap possession inside the Rangers box, but could not find it.
The slack pass from Goldson and poor control from Helander was symptomatic of a lacklustre first half from Rangers as they struggled to find any rhythm. It was a stopstart encounter of niggling fouls and slack passes.
Ianis Hagi tried to produce something out of nothing from the edge of the area, but could not find the target, while Joe Aribo came closer but not close enough as his strike did not trouble keeper Ryan Fulton.
He would have to intervene to deny Goldson just before the break. A Cedric Itten strike was deflected wide and Goldson rose well to meet James Tavernier’s corner. His header looped towards the back post, but Fulton would gather before it crossed the line and when Tavernier’s freekick minutes later whistled over the bar, the half ended goalless.
The time that Gerrard had with his players inside the makeshift away dressing room was crucial and he would have demanded a reaction and a quicker start.
A shot from Ryan Kent that found the side netting just seconds after the players returned was a sign of intent and there was more purpose as Rangers attacked early on.
It would not last, though, and it was Accies who would threaten next. McGregor made a terrific stop to deny Scott McMann on the angle from the left, and his second was even better as Callachan fired in the rebound that really should have resulted in the opening goal.
The Rangers keeper was forced into action again two minutes later – after Ryan Jack had replaced Bongani Zungu and Fulton saved a tame Aribo effort – as Anderson again tried his luck.