Killie Miss Out On Rare Chance To Beat Rangers!

Kilmarnock 0 Rangers 0 SPL Match 5, Rugby Park, Sept 19th, 2009, KO: 12:30 Attendance:       Gers Goals:    Cards Mendes 43 mins

No Player Started Substitution Cards Goals 26 Mark Brown       2 Tim Clancy (53 mins for Skelton)     5 Fraser Wright       14 Steven Old       15 Ryan O'Leary       7 Craig Bryson       8 Manuel Pascali     11 Danny Invincibile (72 mins for Taouil)     16 Kevin Kyle     18 Conor Sammon     23 Jamie Hamill       Subs         13 Cameron Bell         10 Mehdi Taouil (72 mins for Invincibile)   12 Gavin Skelton (53 mins for Clancy)     17 Graeme Owens         19 Iain Flannigan         20 David Fernandez           Legend         Complete Game Yellow / Red Card Goal Substitute On Substitute Off Penalty

Walter Smith was sent to the stand and Rangers and Kilmarnock were both reduced to 10 men as they battled out an explosive goalless draw in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Pedro Mendes was dismissed shortly before half-time - the third Rangers player to see red this season after Kevin Thomson and Madjid Bougherra - and Smith's complaints earned him a seat in the Rugby Park stand.

Manuel Pascali then followed Mendes down the tunnel late in the game, with neither side able to find the goal that would seal the three points.

David Weir recovered from the ankle injury which kept him out of the Champions League clash in Stuttgart to take his place in the heart of defence, with Lee McCulloch again deployed as a makeshift centre-back, this time filling in for the suspended Bougherra.

Smith admitted in his pre-match press conference he was unhappy with Rangers' start to the season and had hoped their second-half efforts in Germany would act as the catalyst for their domestic campaign. He was wrong.

Mirroring last week's early kick-off at Motherwell, Rangers appeared lacklustre once again and it was Kilmarnock who carved out the first chance of the game when Craig Bryson picked out the towering figure of Conor Sammon in front of goal.

He tried his luck with a downward header from close range but the striker was foiled in his efforts to claim the opener by goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who comfortably smothered in the Rangers goal.

Mendes then picked up a harsh yellow card - which would prove costly later on - for clipping the heels of Bryson but Killie failed to capitalise on the resultant free-kick when McGregor came out to gather a curving shot from Tim Clancy.

Rangers lacked any real creativity up front and Mendes resorted to a long-range shot which fizzed past the post and did little to trouble Mark Brown in the Killie goal.

Steven Naismith looked dangerous moments later when a point-blank shot was blocked by the legs of Brown as the home side held firm. He then ran onto a Steven Davis ball only to be denied by Brown, who raced off his line to smother.

The game erupted two minutes from the interval when Mendes picked up a second yellow card for another foul on Bryson. The red card prompted a furious response from boss Smith, who exchanged angry words with Sammon and was then sent to the stand by referee Steve Conroy as he continued to remonstrate in the dug-out.

After the restart, Danny Invincibile passed up a great chance to open the scoring when his close-range header was blocked by McGregor, before hooking the rebound over the crossbar when he looked certain to leave the net bulging instead.

Killie continued to press and only the woodwork denied Jamie Hamill, when his swerving effort crashed off the inside of the post and back into play. Rangers managed to punt it back up the park, where John Fleck was waiting to draw a decent block from Brown.

Kris Boyd had boasted an excellent record of 13 goals in 12 games against his former club but this clearly was not going to be his day and Rangers made a double change with an hour gone when Boyd and Novo were withdrawn to make way for Thomson and Kenny Miller.

With nine minutes to go, Kilmarnock were also reduced to 10 men when Pascali picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Davis.

Both sides were still searching for the goal which would now almost certainly decide the game and McGregor did well to parry a close-range volley from Sammon.

At the other end, Davis tried to play through Miller on goal but Brown was first to the ball to claim possession before the striker could pull the trigger.

The match ended devoid of goals but not without incident, with seven cautions plus the two dismissals.

Rangers front three of Steven Naismith, Kris Boyd and Nacho Novo made little headway. Naismith and Novo were unable to add guile or craft to their relentless toil, while Boyd had one of those days in which anyone watching him for the first time would have been amazed to learn the same player is, in fact, the country’s most prolific goalscorer.

These may be his final months in a Rangers jersey, given that it seems increasingly unlikely he will be given a new contract. Should this be his last season at Ibrox, and should there be many more performances like this one, then it promises to be rather inglorious compared with what has preceded it.

At the ground where he forged his reputation, Boyd plodded around half-heartedly, awaiting service from the Rangers wide men or midfielders that never came. He is not one to create something out of nothing. Starved of balls into the penalty box off which he could feed, he was rendered largely irrelevant.

 

Sandy's Match Pic's are HERE

JJ on the Rangers Post Match... "I think Steve Conroy is one of the best referees and I thought he handled a lot of the game well. But I didn't agree with him with the two sending-offs. Mendes' first booking definitely wasn't a booking, it was his first foul in the game. I said at half-time that the big worry was that he might try to even the score. I've been long enough in the game to know that, especially against the Old Firm with the pressure the referees are under. It was nothing daft or stupid, the boy just closed him down and fell over him and it was a very harsh booking. We have never beaten Rangers down here and that was a great chance. It's not often I'd say this against Rangers or Celtic but I thought we probably threw two points away. The players get fined if they are reckless but none of these boys deserve to be fined - even Manuel Pascali, who was sent off.  What he got sent off for was ridiculous. These bookings can mount up and cost you and some of them aren't justified. But I won't be the only manager saying that, it's just something you have to put up with. We had Steve Conroy in the two cup matches against Ayr last year, which were two difficult matches, and the referee did superbly. We've had him in other league games and haven't had any complaints - I think Steve just had a bad day and everyone is entitled to a bad day.  Some of the bookings were just nonsense and the two sendings-off were harsh. If he looks back at it in the cold light of day, I'm sure he will say there were some silly ones. He had a bad day but it doesn't make him a bad referee."

Conor Sammon on the  Post Match..."There was a bit of a mix-up because Walter Smith had a go at us, thinking we were running over to the ref to get him booked.  I can understand, in the heat of the moment, it might have looked like that but the referee will tell you we were only looking for the advantage to be played. The lads feel a bit disappointed that we didn't win the game. Coming into the game we would obviously have looked at a point as being a very good result. But, with the way the game panned out, we could have nicked it and it is a bit disappointing. But we played well today and we have to take the positives."

David Weir's (Rangers) Post Match Comments... “It was a competitive game. Kilmarnock have a strong side and were up for it and we matched that. That’s how football should be. It’s what the Scottish public wants; aggression and people making tackles. But I don’t think there was any malice or dirtiness in the game.”