Rangers had captain Barry Ferguson sent off in a stormy Scottish Cup quarter-final at East End Park.

The Scotland international was shown a straight red card for kicking Dunfermline substitute Noel Hunt after the pair had spent much of the second half feuding.

David Grondin had fired the home side in front midway through the first half but Claudio Caniggia's equaliser dampened the Pars' hopes of a first win over Rangers since 1988 and the two sides will have to do battle all over again in an Ibrox replay.

The early chances had come Dunfermline's way, with the fit-again Gary Mason giving Stefan Klos a well-hit tester but it was not until the 23rd minute when Grondin's strike brought the game to life.

Not for the first time, target man Craig Brewster had got the better of the sluggish Bob Malcolm in the box, although there was a suspicion that he had been offside on this occasion.

But there was no disputing the quality of his lay-off or of the Frenchman's finish as he drilled the ball low past Klos to give his side the lead.

It lasted all of eight minutes however until Caniggia netted his sixth goal of the season against Dunfermline on their own patch.

The classy Ronald de Boer, who had been twisting and turning former team-mate Scott Wilson all over the place, was the instigator, feeding the ball beyond the home defence for Caniggia to run on to and slot past the exposed Derek Stillie.

The Pars goalkeeper then kept his side level with a remarkable reflex stop from de Boer, who kicked the post in frustration after having seen his header from a Neil McCann cross clawed away when a goal looked certain.

Within a matter of seconds Stillie had pulled off another diving stop to deny Kevin Muscat from further out but the final save of the half belonged to Klos as the Pars sprinted up the field on the counter-attack.

Scotland striker Stevie Crawford, who had earlier turned Muscat inside out in the box before firing across goal and wide, outpaced Craig Moore but was denied by the German's block as he came to meet him.

It had been an excellent first 45 minutes and the heat was turned up straight after the restart when the Pars had a penalty claim turned down when Crawford hit the deck in a crowded box before Ricksen was booked for chopping the striker down in the centre circle.

Hunt came on for Barry Nicholson and was soon booked for reacting angrily to a Muscat foul, with the Australian also yellow carded. Ferguson escaped punishment for pushing the Irishman away, an action that caused Hunt to lose his rag and push his face into the Rangers captain's.

Referee John Underhill was not yet in card-happy mode however as he proved when Malcolm's kung-fu felling of Hunt ended with play restarting with a dropped ball.

In the 68th minute Caniggia almost made it 2-1 when he met a McCann cross into the six-yard box but somehow the ball ended up bouncing wide. A corner was given, presumably off challenger Chris McGroarty who was busy insisting his shirt had been pulled. It looked like an error though - and Caniggia really should have scored.

De Boer came close soon after with a back-post header into the side-netting, with McCann once more the supplier.

McCann was then surprisingly replaced by Shota Arveladze before Stillie was required once more to save his side, this time denying Ferguson after the midfielder had thumped in a goal-bound effort.

Caniggia passed up another good chance to win the game with nine minutes to go but he headed wide after Arteta had picked him out at the back post.

Malcolm was booked for chopping Mason down after Ferguson had lost possession before Arveladze trumped Caniggia for miss of the match.

The Georgian was no more than three yards from goal when he somehow managed to head over after Bert Konterman had headed on an Arteta corner to where he was lurking unattended at the back post.

Arteta thumped the turf in frustration after he was not awarded a penalty when he went down under a Ged Brannan challenge.

The final moment of controversy came with two minutes remaining when Ferguson was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Hunt after some fine touchline skills by the substitute.

Teams

Dunfermline Stillie, MacPherson, Scott Wilson, McGarty, Nicholson (Hunt 52), Mason, Brannan, McGroarty, Grondin (Kilgannon 74), Crawford, Brewster.

Subs Not Used: Ruitenbeek, Dair, Walker.

Booked: Hunt, Brannan.

Goals: Grondin 23.

Rangers Klos, Moore, Konterman, Muscat, Ricksen, Ferguson, Arteta, McCann (Arveladze 74), Caniggia, de Boer, Malcolm.

Subs Not Used: McGregor, Thompson, Ross, Eggen.

Sent Off: Ferguson (89).

Booked: Ricksen, Muscat, Malcolm, Moore.

Goals: Caniggia 31.

Att: 9,875

Ref: J Underhill (Scotland).