Rangers begin life in bottom tier with draw
Reuters - Saturday 11 August 2012, 16:09
Rangers, formerly one half of the Glasgow
"Old Firm" that has dominated Scottish football for decades, began
their new era in the fourth tier of the game with an unconvicing
2-2 draw at Peterhead on Saturday.
The ex-Scottish champions, recovering from a financial
crisis, needed a last-minute equaliser from Andy Little in front
of 4,500 fans at Balmoor stadium on the north-east coast of
Scotland.
It was Rangers' first league match outside the top flight of
Scottish football.
The club went into administration in February before a
takeover in June, and were demoted from the Scottish Premier
League to the third division - the bottom of the country's
footballing pyramid - after a meeting of Scottish Football
League clubs last month.
It means Rangers will not renew league rivalries with
Glasgow neighbours Celtic until at least 2015.
Rangers are clear favourites to win the third division, but
manager Ally McCoist said Saturday's result was a warning to his
players. "If our boys at any time thought this was going to be a
cakewalk, they know where they are now," he told Sky Sports.
"Obviously them scoring late on, [I'm] probably relieved to
get a point after the game. I thought we defended appallingly,
to be honest."
McCoist's side got a fine start when Barry McKay put them in
front with a cool finish on 26 minutes.
But Rory McAllister levelled for Peterhead just after an
hour and, with eight minutes remaining, Scott McLaughlin scored
with a ferocious shot from just inside the box.
Little rescued Rangers in the 90th minute, getting the final
touch on the line after a header from Kevin Kyle came back off
the crossbar.