Gers hat-trick hero Garner lucky not to see red in easy win
ON a day on which Walter Smith voiced a preference that Derek McInnes be appointed Rangers manager rather than Pedro Caixinha, the man in interim charge oversaw the club’s biggest win of the season.
Graeme Murty has had his dark moments since stepping in following Mark Warburton’s departure, with defeats away to Dundee and Inverness Caley Thistle cutting deep.
Yesterday, though, was one of unalloyed joy – the Light Blues swaggering their way into this afternoon’s Scottish Cup semi-final draw thanks, in no small part, to a hat-trick from the eccentric figure that is Joe Garner.
The Englishman only came on to the pitch at half-time as a replacement for Kenny Miller who was taken off to keep him fresh for the clash with Celtic a week today.
And by any standards, he should have been trooping back off it 10 minutes later after inexplicably booting Dougie Imrie with the ball yards away and the officials in close attendance.
The Accies players close to the incident were incensed and howled at referee John Beaton to send the Englishman off.
He took his time but opted for leniency showing Garner only a yellow card.
“Are we in the UFC (cage fighting)? It’s disappointing,” said a clearly angry Imrie.
“You either get it or you don’t. The refs have a hard job. I think it was nearly a leg-breaker so he caught me quite high.
“If that was me or Darian MacKinnon then we’re off the park.
“He went on to score a hat-trick. If he was sent off then he doesn’t score three goals and who is to say we can’t get something out of the game if they’re down to 10 men?”
The man himself, who had already scored one by that point having ghosted in at the back post to turn a Rob Kiernan header into the net with his second touch of the day, was not convinced.
“I don’t think I got lucky with the challenge, in terms of staying on the park. I’ve just watched it back and I didn’t make too much contact,” said Garner who had seven stitches put in after a clash of heads with Blair Adams that also saw the Accies full back stretchered off.
“I’ve went in to see him after the game and he’s fine. If he has said it’s a UFC challenge, I’d say watch it back.
“I’m gutted to be suspended for the Celtic game next week. But the lads will go there full of confidence and hopefully get a good result.”
Carrying the amount of luck they did here, would certainly be a decent start.
Pretty much the first moment of note saw Wes Foderingham likewise spared a red card for handling outside the box and denying Rakish Bingham a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the process.
Rangers’ opener, which came from the penalty spot, was also questionable.
It was won for the home side by Jon Toral, the Spaniard tumbling under light-looking contact from Grant Gillespie in the box.
Martyn Waghorn took the kick and scored with conviction, driving the ball low into the right-hand corner.
That set the foundations for what was ultimately the most comfortable of victories.
Toral himself grabbed his side’s third and his first for the club with a low shot that ballooned up into the net via Scott McMann’s before Clint Hill made it four with a powerful header from a corner.
Garner, though, was not to be kept out of the limelight and he rounded things off with a double to complete his hat-trick.
First he pounced on Grant Gillespie’s too short backpass to round Matthews and roll the ball into an empty net.
Then, with the Accies backline in disarray, he collected a loose ball in the box and shot home.
Coming just four days after the terrific win over Aberdeen, it was a bitter pill for the Lanarkshire side to swallow.
Said Imrie: “Against Aberdeen we defended with a real resilience.
“Against Rangers we lose three goals from set plays which is disappointing but we’ve got to pick ourselves up for a massive game against Hearts.
“We are a strong group and we can put our focus on the last 11 games of the league.”
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