flu relief for racing
Warring bosses forced to settle for a draw
Racing received a welcome boost when the BHA revealed no new equine flu cases have emerged. The agency said the 720 swabs examined so far by the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket had all tested negative for the virus that has put the sport in lockdown. That figure includes a horse from the yard of trainer Rebecca Menzies (right) who had been seen at high risk of the virus. The only confirmed cases are the six Donal McCain horses whose positive tests started the crisis on Wednesday. The news increases the likelihood of racing resuming this week.
Seems that one penalty just isn’t enough to get the job done these days.
Rangers and Killie will have do it all again at Ibrox in 10 days’ time after a turgid 90 minutes ended in stalemate. This stalemate couldn’t even be broken by the reward of a sixth spotkick in a week for Steven Gerrard’s side. It was their one real opportunity to book their quarter-final place but it was spurned by James Tavernier in the 14th minute. In a week filled with needle off the park between their two managers, neither of their sides managed to find the inspiration on it to make the difference. The good news for Rangers is they’ll have Alfredo Morelos back for the replay a week on Wednesday, a quirk of the system that has to see him serve the last of his threegame ban in the Premiership rather than the Cup. The bad news for them is that without their 23- goal striker, they cut a pretty toothless look from middle to front.
They’re also on a run that has only seen them beat a Stevie Clarke Killie side twice in eight attempts.
It seemed to take Rangers an eternity to work out that Morelos wasn’t there as they knocked the bal ls into channels waiting for a chase Jermain Defoe was never going to make. With their ongoing problem of a lack of a creative force in the middle of the park, their obvious route should presumably have been to use Ryan Kent and Daniel Candeias’ ability on the flanks to beat a man and deliver. Their moments were all too fleeting in a disjointed first half. Killie, with only two defeats in seven to Rangers under Clarke, started sharper and Conor McAleny almost had them ahead in three minutes after a poor Candeias pass caught Ross McCrorie on the back foot.
The former Everton striker pounced quickly but his 25-yarder whistled just past Allan McGregor’s postagestamp corner.
Amazingly it took a whole 14 minutes this week for the Ibrox side to get a penalty but there was little question ref Alan Muir got it spot on.
Kirk Broadfoot tried to smother Scott Arfield’s shot inside the six yard box but as he slid out, it was a handball all the way.
Tavernier, who had delivered his first penalty miss for the club amongst the four they were given last week, didn’t hesitate to step up again.
The full- back was denied again, though, drilling it down the middle only to see Dan Bachmann saving the hell out of it, all the way back to the halfway line with his legs. Killie’s fans and players took a second wind out of the reprieve after the despondency of giving it away.
How they didn’t go in front just before the half hour was anyone’s guess.
Mulumbu and Broadfoot both had great chances in 15 seconds of absolute bedlam inside the Rangers six-yard box.
Both sides thrashed at the ball like piranhas with a bleeding carcass before it was finally shelled to safety.
It wasn’t easy on the eye. Killie without the ball were their usual disciplined selves, choking off the supply to Defoe. The veteran striker was bordering on anonymous as he waited for chances that never came with none of the Rangers midfielders seeming capable of threading the eye of the needle with a pass.
It was also getting a bit feisty. Alan Power was yellow carded for a high boot, Scott Boyd followed him into the book for a clumsy chal lenge but then, it’s the Cup, possibly the last chance for either to win a trophy. Stakes are high.
With neither side moving the meter from the restart in a chronic 15 minutes, movement came from the benches for both around the hour.
Killie’s was forced, a head knock forcing Power off for Kris Boyd, with McAleny and Mulumbu each dropping back one to accommodate the veteran frontman.
Despite Kyle Lafferty being stripped and ready to rock to Rangers, Gerrard still held his fire in the hope of a change in fortunes.
It didn’t come. If anything, it got worse, eye-bleedingly bad at times from both sides.
Quarter chances came and went, they weren’t even good enough to be considered half chances.
McAleny blazed a 20-yard volley over the bar. Joe Worrall - who now has his own Ki l lie song after his howler here two weeks ago - glanced a poor header wide from an inviting Andy Halliday corner, despite having a decent game defensively
Then the one true opportunity to get the game over and done with in 90 came Defoe’s way.
Mulumbu, who hadn’t put a foot wrong in his first start back in blue and white on loan from Celtic, inexplicably gifted the ball to McCrorie in the middle of the park, who picked out the former England striker in the inside right channel.
The keeper came, the ball beat him but the striker, the away dugout and both ends watched in agony as it trickled the other side of the post. Rangers’ changes finally came, Laf ferty and Steven Davis on in in the final 10, but too late to make a difference.