RANGERS FIND IT A ROCKY RETURN
Accies make Ibrox men’s first outing in top flight hard going
HAVING waited four years, two months and 24 days since the last top-tier success, Rangers fans packed Ibrox fully expecting to celebrate flag day and announce their return in resounding style.
The arrival back from ‘the journey’, however, turned out to be just as bumpy as many of the perilous pit-stops on the road from the Third Division.
Hamilton, two-season savvy veterans of the Premiership, caused the delay. On the first step up in grade, Mark Warburton’s men were unable to exhibit the energy and zest which characterised their Championship success of last season.
The penetration that produced such a rush of goals in their romp to the title was missing. Decisionmaking when it counted was dubious at the top of the pitch. Perhaps the occasion played its part, pondered Warburton.
The opponent certainly did. Accies seized a first-half lead through the excellent Ali Crawford, were outstanding without the ball and set Rangers a test they could find only one definitive answer to following vital second-half substitutions.
Central playmaker Niko Kranjcar, who looked to be lacking fitness, was withdrawn on the hour for Harry Forrester. Within a minute, the Englishman picked open the Accies defence with a stunning pass for Martyn Waghorn to level.
Last night, Rangers lamented a failure to build momentum from the equaliser and prise only a point from what, on paper, looked a kind first home fixture.
There were also concerns for Waghorn, who pulled up sharply nine minutes from time with hamstring trouble.
Sunday, May 13, 2012 was the last time Rangers played a top-flight match, winning 4-0 at St Johnstone.
Barrie McKay, at the age of 17, was introduced that day and here the Scotland winger made his return alongside eight Premiership debutants.
Lee Wallace led out the same starting side torn apart by Burnley’s Andre Gray last Saturday in a 3-1 defeat. Danny Wilson’s suspension meant Clint Hill, the defender most exposed by Gray, retained his place at the heart of defence.
Since McKay’s first-team bow more than four years ago, these fans have trekked from Elgin to Annan to trace the winding journey back to taking their place among the elite. So the atmosphere approaching kick-off was electric. The din at Ibrox seemed to drown out the instructions from the public address system for Dave King to unfurl the flag as the Rangers chairman needed a reminder prompt from the touchline before doing the honours.
As ever, riding out the early storm was key for an Ibrox visitor. Hamilton managed thanks to goalkeeper Remi Matthews, an encouraging pointer to how they might cope without Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 star Michael McGovern.
On-loan Norwich man Matthews pushed away an Andy Halliday drive, then denied Waghorn with his right boot.
Those chances apart, Rangers were unable to get in behind Accies’ well-structured lines and there was no peace for the home team’s playmakers.
For all the quality of touch and range of pass, it should be remembered that Kranjcar has most recently played in the North American Soccer League — the level below the MLS — where fitness is far less of an issue than in the Scottish top flight. Accies trio Dougie Imrie, Michael Devlin and Greg Docherty were hardly in the mood to admire the Croat.
He looked at least a yard off the pace in the thick of the first half and was no match for Crawford as Accies silenced Ibrox in taking a lead on the half-hour.
Rangers passed up opportunities to clear before Crawford collected on the right side of the area.
He evaded Kranjcar with ease, dragged the ball on to his left foot and curled home a gorgeous finish. That was the moment that counted for Crawford but he won’t forget a cute nutmeg of Barton either.
Rangers applied the heat again as a Waghorn free-kick shaved Matthews’ right-hand post and four Accies players were booked while they succeeded in scrapping towards the interval with a lead.
The trademark Warburton subs on the hour were how Rangers rediscovered their incisive edge.
Off came Kranjcar and Kenny Miller. On went Forrester and Michael O’Halloran. The impact was instant.
With his first touch, Forrester sailed a sublime pass on the run with the outside of his right boot into the stride of Waghorn. Last season’s top scorer opened his league account by sweeping a well-executed first-time finish low past Matthews.
But Hamilton’s midfield veteran Massimo Donati almost restored the visitors’ lead minutes later. From Crawford’s free-kick, he fired in a diving header, which Foderingham brilliantly tipped away for a corner.