Inverness substitute Bryan Prunty provided a stoppage time equaliser to deny
Rangers the luxury of a nine-point lead over his former club Celtic.
It had seemed as though Barry Ferguson's first goal as a returned Ranger was
going to be enough for a hard-fought victory for Alex McLeish's side.
But with the final whistle not long from the referee's lips, the Scotland
Under-21 international latched on to a loose ball in the Rangers box that had
come off the head of Gregory Vignal.
The draw meant Rangers are now vulnerable at the top of the Bank of Scotland
Premier League table and Celtic now have three games to make up a seven-point
deficit, starting at Hibernian tomorrow.
It was the second time in four days that the final kick of the game had been
significant to Rangers and their title quest.
There had been a season's worth of controversy included in the 2-1 win at
Hearts on Wednesday, where two men were sent off and a last-minute,
match-winning penalty was awarded.
The events of that night are still being hotly debated but they appeared also
to have drained the Rangers players of energy and enterprise and Caley deserved
the point.
The Rangers fans, whose ire had been collectively raised the previous night
when Hearts had audaciously demanded a replay, were also quiet to the point of
catatonia and that was good news for Caley too.
Even Ferguson was initially off the boil, providing little early input to his
side's cause despite the need for maximum points.
He did provide a cute pass for Nacho Novo in the eighth minute but neither
Steven Thompson, who had replaced Tynecastle red card victim Dado Prso up front,
or Thomas Buffel could get on the end of it.
Thompson then headed a passable chance over after a good cross from the left
from Bojan Djordjic, whose return had meant Gregory Vignal switching to left
back and Michael Ball dropping to the bench.
Novo was denied by a smart block by Caley 'keeper Mark Brown, a former Ibrox
understudy of Stefan Klos, before the Spaniard fired over an unprotected goal
after Brown had spilled a cross.
Vignal made two bold forays into the box with the ball at his feet and on the
second he went down claiming a penalty.
Referee Mike Ritchie waved play on and was right to do so as Vignal had been
simply crowded out. To have done otherwise would have provided Hearts with
exhibit 'A' in their bizarre quest for justice and it was a similar story when
Djordjic went down a couple of minutes later.
Fortune certainly had favoured Rangers in the 19th minute and there was also a
Tynecastle flavour to that as former Jambo Juanjo missed a great opportunity.
Caley captain Stuart Golabek fired in a hopeful long-ranger that hit his
team-mate and the bounce off his boot enabled him to turn Marvin Andrews. That
mean he had just goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus to beat but the little Spaniard
ended up pulling his shot across goal and inches wide.
It was easily the best opportunity of a half that also saw Sotirios Kyrgiakos
- the man at the centre of Wednesday's disputed penalty award - booked for a
foul on Juanjo.
The onus was on Rangers to improve after the break but Caley remained as
dogged opponents as they had been in their previous two meetings - a 1-1 draw in
Aberdeen in December and a 1-0 war of attrition success for the home side back
in September.
Djordjic was replaced in the 53rd minute by Bob Malcolm as Rangers made a
re-jig.
Novo failed to hit the target with a bouncing effort after Thompson had headed
down a long ball from Vignal but the breakthrough duly arrived in the 57th
minute.
Ricksen sent a kick from Brown back into the Caley half and it was just
perfect for Ferguson, who found himself with time and space to loft the ball
over the goalkeeper and into the net.
Caley player-boss Craig Brewster had opted to leave himself out of the
equation altogether but he added some extra spice to the occasion by replacing
Barry Wilson with Bajram Fetai, the on-loan Ranger Ibrox boss Alex McLeish had
indicated he had not wanted to be used today.
The teenager had not touched the ball before Andrews, to the home fans'
delight, charged upfield to set up Buffel with an opportunity that the Belgian
wasted with a tamely poked effort at Brown.
Rangers survived another scare when Richie Hart was just wide with an effort
from outside the box.
Then came the inevitable Fetai moment with the Macedonian-born Dane forcing a
stunning reaction save from Waterreus following some pinball play in the Rangers
box.
Hart was booked for fouling Novo, who was denied a late clincher by Brown
after robbing Golabek of possession.
How he must wish he had taken it as Prunty, who is no more than a bit-part
player at Caley, made no mistake with his only chance of the afternoon.
Teams:
Rangers Waterreus, Ross, Andrews, Kyrgiakos, Vignal, Buffel,
Ricksen, Ferguson, Djordjic (Malcolm 53), Novo, Thompson.
Subs Not Used: McGregor, Alex Rae, Burke, Ball, Namouchi,
McCormack.
Booked: Kyrgiakos.
Goals: Ferguson 57.
Inverness CT Brown, Tokely, Dods, Munro, Golabek,
Wilson (Fatai 70), Hart, McBain, Duncan, Juanjo,
Bayne (Prunty 74).
Subs Not Used: Fraser, McCaffrey, Hastings, Proctor, Black.
Booked: McBain, Hart.
Goals: Prunty 90.
Att: 49,345
Ref: M Ritchie (Scotland).
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