Goalkeeper Neil Alexander was the hero as Rangers booked their place in the Scottish Cup final following a tense penalty shoot-out against a battling St Johnstone side.

Alexander - between the sticks for the injured Allan McGregor - saved spot-kicks from both Steven Milne and Jody Morris after Nacho Novo had cancelled out Daniel McBreen's opener in extra-time.

French striker Daniel Cousin slotted the decisive spot kick into the bottom left to end a nerve-shredding shootout at Hampden, which Rangers won 4-3.

Novo had come close to snatching a winner with a low drive against the right post with two minutes left. However, it finished level and moved to penalties.

The first half was a scrappy affair and Rangers suffered a double injury blow in the opening 20 minutes with Chris Burke and Steven Naismith both carried off on stretchers with ankle and knee injuries respectively.

However, they dominated against the side from Scottish football's second tier without creating many chances.

Saints keeper Alan Main almost gifted Rangers a goal by charging out of the side of his penalty area on 32 minutes to try and cut out a long ball down the left for Cousin.

But he lost out as they collided and Cousin curled in a 20-metre shot with Main stranded, only to see the ball soar across the face of goal.

Saints' best effort came in the second half when Steven Milne sent a back-heeled flick goalwards from five metres following Liam Craig's near-post free-kick in the 62nd minute but keeper Alexander smothered the ball at full stretch.

Rangers staged a late rally and Main blocked Steven Whittaker with his legs before substitute Steven Davis had a 10-metre header knocked off the line in the 88th minute by Saints' Liam Craig and the tie headed into extra time.

Rangers, who face Fiorentina in a UEFA Cup semi-final on Thursday, meet second division Queen of the South in the final on May 24.

Queen of the South were already celebrating because they will play in the UEFA Cup next season regardless of what happens in the Scottish Cup final because Rangers are set to play in next season's Champions League.

"Who would believe that," Queen of the South manager Gordon Chisholm told BBC Radio. "It's just a wonderful experience, a fairytale, going to the final... and now we have qualified for Europe, it's just fantastic."

In the only SPL game of the day, Noel Hunt's penalty leveller kept DundeeUnited and Hibernian on an equal footing in the race for a UEFA Cup spot after a 1-1 draw at Tannadice.

Dean Shiels handed Hibs the lead after rounding Lukasz Zaluska but they could only hold it for three minutes as Thierry Gathuessi fouled Mark de Vries to give away a penalty on the hour mark and Hunt made no mistake from the spot.

Both sides created numerous chances and Fletcher missed the best opportunity to win an entertaining Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash when Zaluska came off his line to save a one-on-one.

Sporting Life / Reuters