McCrorie dedicates goal to gran

ROSS McCRORIE last night dedicated his precious Pittodrie equaliser to his seriously ill grandmother. The 20-year-old Ibrox star’s second-half header, which cancelled out Kenny McLean’s contentious penalty opener for Aberdeen, ensured that the battle for second place behind champions Celtic will go down to the final day this weekend. Although delighted to have kept Rangers in the hunt, McCrorie revealed his immediate thoughts were with his ailing relative. ‘That goal was for my gran,’ he said. ‘She was watching and she’s not got long to live, so that was for her.’ McCrorie was quickest to the ball in the 62nd minute when Alfredo Morelos’ shot struck Scott McKenna and was sent skywards. He nipped in front of the Aberdeen defender to head the ball past goalkeeper Joe Lewis. ‘The ball came in and it was 50-50 between me and Scott McKenna and I managed to get a head on it,’ he said. Reflecting on a game which saw Jimmy Nicholl’s side improve greatly after the interval, McCrorie added: ‘It was two different halves, I don’t think we played to our usual standard in the first half but, second half, we came out all guns blazing. ‘It was disappointing not to get the three points as that’s what we came here for. We didn’t show up in the first half but the second half was a lot better.’ Interim boss Nicholl was unhappy with the decision to award the Dons a first-half spot-kick, when Morelos was penalised for a challenge on McLean. McCrorie agreed, saying: ‘I didn’t think it was a penalty either. I was right behind it and I saw Alfredo get the ball.’