HALLIDAY STILL HAUNTED BY CUP FINAL LOSS
Rangers man thought he had scored winner only to be denied by two late Hibs strikes
Rangers midfielder thought he had scored the winner in 2016 only to have triumph snatched away at the end
A mere ten minutes from the end of the 2016 Scottish Cup final it seemed as if a very special place in the history of Rangers beckoned for Andy Halliday. It looked then like he was going to be the man whose goal brought a major trophy to Ibrox for the first time in five years.
Hibernian had other ideas, of course. Two last-gasp goals gave the Leith club the trophy for the first time in 114 years, and if Halliday lives for another 114, he gives the impression that true atonement for that afternoon will elude him.
Victory over Falkirk in the teams’ Scottish Cup quarterfinal at Ibrox tomorrow would putgraememurty’smenwithin two games of snaring silverware. A trophy is required this season to prevent Rangers going seven consecutive years without a major trophy, something which hasn’t happened since football was first played professionally in this country. Halliday is desperate for a major honour to come to the club, but the 3-2 final defeat against the Easter Road men two years ago will always gnaw away at him.
“It’s a moment in my career that is hard to forget… but you do your best,” he said with admirable candour. “Richard Gough actually told me before the cup final that he had been apartofalotofcupfinalsbut he remembered most the ones that he didn’t win. I can certainly understand that. It was a real disappointment and probably the lowest point in my career so far. You know, we have a chance to try to put that right – but it doesn’t make it any better, I suppose. It is a chance to get a bit of silverware back at Rangers so this competition’s massive for us.
“A final is an occasion you relish because you aren’t going to experience it a lot as a football player and it was a massive disappointment on the day we couldn’t win the silverware. It was a huge disappointment, but we have a chance to get in to another final this season and that is all we are aiming for.”
Tomorrow’s tie and the hosting of Celtic a week later in the league will have a major bearingonhowtheseasonpansout for Murty’s men. They have started to look like a Rangers team of old through scoring freely as they have racked up nine wins and a draw from their past 11 games. Halliday’s feet remain firmly planted, though.
“We’re in a good place at the moment but we’ve done nothing yet. We’re still trying to close the gap on Celtic and we want to win silverware with the Scottish Cup,” he said. “The next two games could define the season. Sunday is massive for ourselves. Celtic are the favourites [for the cup] but think we’ve got a chance and Falkirk are a hurdle we need to overcome.
“We’re still six points behind Celtic and we’ve played a game more so there’s a long way to go but the manner we’ve gone about our business is pleasing.”
“Momentum”, “progress” and “building” have become the buzzwords at Rangers but Murty, pictured, knows two defeats in the next two games would kill stone dead the use of such terms. He wants his team to move beyond living from game-togame but knows, conversely, they cannot do that unless they are taking “the next step”. It is Falkirk first up, but the Celtic encounter obviously looms large. The Rangers manager would not rule out injury doubts Jamie Murphy and Declan John for this weekend but admits he might “project forward” to the derby when assessing their readiness. Lee Wallace is ready for a comeback after being sidelined with groin problems since September but won’t feature against Celtic unless he manages game time against Falkirk. While there seems little chance of overhauling Brendan Rodgers’ side in the championship, Murty doesn’t appear to prioritise this weekend’s cup tie over the derby.
“The Scottish Cup is a very, very high priority,” he said. “Is it as high as finishing second? I don’t know. But it is the next game. It is an opportunity for us to move forward. I think we can go and have a positive result on Sunday, put that to bed for a little bit and then concentrate back on the league.”