Rangers carried on where they left off before the winter's break and kept
their treble dreams burning bright with a 2-0 victory over lowly Third Division
outfit Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Cup.
Top of the Premier League and with the League Cup in the trophy cabinet,
Rangers won with goals from Stephane Guivarc'h and Rod Wallace - but it was only
after an early scare that Dick Advocaat's men came to life.
Terry Christie's Warriors stayed true to their pre-match word to attack at
every opportunity and after three minutes came within a whisker of a dream
start.
Defender Adrian Sprott found himself in acres of space in the box after
confusion in the Rangers' defence but his shot came back off the post.
This seemed to wake Rangers and in the fifth minute Stenhousemuir's hopes of
staging a famous cup victory evaporated when Frenchman Guivarc'h's deflected
shot looped over keeper Lindsay Hamilton.
But Stenhousemuir, who had Graeme Armstrong making his 1,000th senior
appearance, refused to lie down.
The home side, without Gordon Durie, Jonas Thern, Arthur Numan, Ian Ferguson
and Lorenzo Amoruso, still had millions of pounds' worth of talent at their
disposal but their defence looked vulnerable against Stenhousemuir's counter
attack.
In the 27th minute, Andrei Kanchelskis found himself in a great position but
his first ball was poor with the goal at Guivarc'h's mercy.
However Rangers made sure of victory in the 30th minute when Hamilton was
unable to hold Jorg Albertz's shot and in-form partner Wallace was on hand to
blast home from close range.
Wallace should have notched his 20th goal of the season three minutes from the
interval but his weak effort was saved by Hamilton.
In the second half Stenhousemuir continued to frustrate the Rangers' fans who
expected an onslaught and in turn they vented their anger at the hugely
disappointing and ineffective Russian flier Kanchelskis.
Brave Stenhousemuir continued to show great courage and Ross Hamilton found
himself clear in the 54th minute only to see the linesman flagging for offside.
Kanchelskis once again came under the scrutiny of the Ibrox fans moments later
but Neil McCann's cross was just too long for him.
Rangers were given the opportunity for their third goal in the 61st minute
when referee Martin Clark awarded the Gers a penalty after McCann went down
under the challenge Alan Lawrence.
He was booked for his continued appeals but perhaps justice was done when
keeper Hamilton produced a great save low to his left to keep out Albertz's
effort.
With Rangers looking increasingly sluggish, Advocaat threw on Gabriel Amato
and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst for Guivarc'h and Albertz.
The Rangers boss hoped the duo could spark life into his side but they
continued to look a side who endured a gruelling three big games in seven days
rather than fresh from a break in America.
In the 78th minute Barry Ferguson replaced McCann and the midfielder was
inches away from scoring Rangers' third with a curling effort from the edge of
the area.
With a minute to go the home side thought they had scored but Amato's effort
was ruled out for offside.
Stenhousemuir failed to give the Warriors' army of fans the goal they deserved
but Rangers cannot afford too many performances like today's if their treble
dreams are to come true.
Teams:
Rangers: Klos, Porrini, Wilson, Vidmar, Hendry, Kanchelskis,
Albertz (Van Bronckhorst 61), McCann (Ferguson 78), Miller,
Guivarc'h (Amato 61), Wallace.
Booked: Wilson, Kanchelskis.
Goals: Guivarc'h 4, Wallace 38.
Stenhousemuir: L. Hamilton, Davidson, Sprott (Banks 81),
Armstrong, Baptie, Gibson (Lansdowne 85), R. Hamilton, Fisher,
Lawrence, Craig, Miller (Watters 81).
Booked: Lawrence, Craig.
Att: 37,759
Ref: M Clark (Edinburgh).
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