SPL - Rangers held by Hibs

Eurosport - Sat, 24 Oct 16:50:00 2009

Anthony Stokes's second-half equaliser condemned Rangers to another disappointing result - this time a 1-1 draw at home to Hibernian in the SPL.

2009-10 SPL Hibernian's Anthony Stokes celebrates goal against Rangers - 0

Though Walter Smith's side extended their lead over Celtic, it was a case of two points dropped after Kris Boyd had given the Gers an eighth-minute lead and the disappointment of Tuesday's 4-1 home defeat to Unirea Urziceni was still fresh in the minds of supporters who booed their team off at the final whistle.

Time and again the home side were frustrated in their attempts to double their advantage by visiting goalkeeper Graham Stack.

On one of the few occasions that Rangers did bypass Stack, Kenny Miller's header flicked the top of the crossbar.

It was against the run of play when Stokes equalised in the 63rd minute but there was no doubting the quality of a magnificent strike as the former Arsenal forward flicked the ball around defender Steven Whittaker before lobbing Allan McGregor.

A chance apiece in the opening three minutes was the precursor to an engaging game at Ibrox.

The first opportunity of the match fell to Derek Riordan but the striker shot wide. 60 seconds later Boyd also missed the target after the striker had done well to turn Chris Hogg.

Boyd atoned on eight minutes, though in truth he couldn't really have failed thanks to the unselfish work of Kyle Lafferty. Not for the final time in the afternoon, Lafferty got the better of David Wotherspoon and headed across goal for Boyd to fire in from four yards.

Hibs had the ball in the net on 23 minutes but Stokes was correctly flagged for offside as the striker prodded in after Merouane Zemmama's shot had crashed back off the inside of the post.

Four minutes later Miller missed from a similar position to the one in which Boyd had given Rangers the lead, the striker volleying wide of goal after uncharacteristically unselfish play from goalscorer Boyd.

McGregor was called upon to deny Abdessalem Benjelloun but it was the goalkeeper's opposite number, Stack, who ended the half the busier of the two custodians.

The former Arsenal keeper saved first from Boyd and then collected a weak effort from Lafferty.

The visitors were unable to stem the tide at the start of the second half and were fortunate not to have been submerged by the time John Hughes's side gained an unlikely leveller.

Stack denied Boyd once more with a save low down to his right and even more fortuitously for the visitors Miller's header flicked off the top of the crossbar.

A Sasa Papac blockbuster was then tipped wide by Stack but a second Rangers goal seemed inevitable.

Hibs had offered only a speculative shot from Zemmama but equalised against the run of play through a magnificent individual goal in the 63rd minute. Stokes flicked the ball around the lackadaisical Whittaker before floating a shot over a stranded McGregor.

The chances that had been fashioned earlier suddenly dried up for the home side and Rangers' desperation saw them appeal in vain for a penalty for handball against Souleymane Bamba.

The visitors might even have won the game. More outstanding play from Stokes resulted in the striker having a shot blocked. The rebound fell to substitute Colin Nish but the midfielder's effort drifted wide.

Chris Stanton / Eurosport

Comment 36 - 55 of 55

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  1. 54 - That's the new name for Lloyds TSB, is it­ not?? LOL!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Tue 27 Oct 5:16PM

  2. ftp

    From Gary S, on Sun 25 Oct 10:45PM

  3. BORROW BORROW WE WILL BORROW MONEY
    ANYWHERE EVERYWHERE­ WE WILL BORROW ON
    DUNDEE HAMILTIN PUT MER IN THE BANK­ THAN RANGERS KIN
    NEED TO GO TO PROVIDENT TO BORROW­ ON
    FOR THERES NOT A TEAM (SKINT) LIKE THE GLASGOW­ RANGERS NO NOT ONE
    AN THERE NEVER SHALL BE ONE THE­ FEGUKING CELTIC NO ALL ABOUT OUR
    TROUBLES WE WILL TAP­ TILL THE DAY IS DONE FOR THERES NOT A TEAM AS (SKINT)­ AS THE
    GLASGOW RANGERS
    NO NOT WON AND THERE NEVER­ SHALL BE ONE!

    REMEMBER THIS "IF CELTIC SPEND A­ POUND W WILL SPEND A FIVER"
    CHANGED DAYS­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAIL HAIL

    From timalloy, on Sun 25 Oct 9:47PM

  4. I HEAR RANGERS BADGE NEXT YEAR
    WILL BE A BLACK­ HORSE
    AND THE DATE­ FOUNDED
    2009
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA­ HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
    LlOYDS TSB

    From timalloy, on Sun 25 Oct 9:40PM

  5. GLASGOW Lloyds TSB RANGERS
    THE BANKS NOW RUN THE­ CASTLE
    ITS GOT TO E BETTER THAN THE WHANKS
    THAN HAVE­ RAN IT FOR YEARS

    NO MONEY
    NO HOPE
    NO TALENT
    NOW NO­ SAY IN YOUR OWN CLUB
    WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR­ SHARES

    BUMPED BY MURRAY AGAIN
    IBROX STADIUM=OWNERS=­ Lloyds TSB
    MURRAY PARK=OWNER =DAVID MURRAY
    RANGERS­ MERCHINDISE=OWNERS =JJB­ SPORTS
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    TOP OF­ THE LEAGUE
    HAIL HAIL

    From timalloy, on Sun 25 Oct 9:31PM

  6. YES you are th people!!scotlands shame will never go­ away..much like th debt fail fail!

    From zzgus f, on Sun 25 Oct 7:18PM

  7. 52 LEAUGE TITLES , NEED I SAY ANY MORE WE ARE THE­ PEOPLE

    From k.nottle, on Sun 25 Oct 7:15PM

  8. major cracks at ibrox..finances in tatters a club in­ turmoil fail fail w anks!

    From zzgus f, on Sun 25 Oct 6:23PM

  9. GREAT GOAL FROM MR:STOKES EE POKES THE BA PRETTY GOOD­ IN THE NET;HARD TIMES AHEAD AT IBROX SOON; PS WEE HACHO­ NOVE IS A CRACKING WEE PLAYER;PLAYING WIFF WRONG TEAM;I­ PREDICT EES BACK IN ESPANYA SOO ARA BEST NOVO;;PS DO U­ OWN NOVO HOTELS IN EUROPE

    From UB40,LOCHEE, on Sun 25 Oct 5:27PM

  10. Hahaha and all this on the day Scotland is to be free­ of UK rule and will elect Muhammed Al Fayed as the­ first Scotish President :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Sun 25 Oct 2:32PM

  11. celtic bhoys club = scotlands shame

    From Craigy, on Sun 25 Oct 1:53PM

  12. craigy is an inbreed half wit

    From robert, on Sun 25 Oct 12:02PM

  13. when was the last time use monkey inbreeds beat us?­ hinkin about it when was the last time use beat a­ f.uckin half decent side ....CHAMPIONS Cheerz

    From Craigy, on Sun 25 Oct 10:34AM

  14. Who cares about??? My boyfriend thinks the same with­ me. He is eight years older than me, lol. We met online­ at -- Agelessmatch-C O M -- nice and free place for­ Younger Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger­ Men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check­ out or tell your friends.

    From Lucy, on Sun 25 Oct 4:12AM

  15. to the moronic english who still cant quite grasp why­ the world hate you, go read a history book, you won­ nothing but claimed everything, your a @#$% race,­ that's not rude, it's a fact.

    From inverkenny, on Sun 25 Oct 2:08AM

  16. go on the Hibees, when i was young my daddy took me­ down to Easter Road........

    From inverkenny, on Sun 25 Oct 1:23AM

  17. Why all this anti English bile, what have we ever done­ to upset you ?.

    From f, on Sun 25 Oct 12:03AM

  18. #4haig ( what an ugly name ) away you go a wee walk­ with your bowler hat on down that road mmm what's­ it called again ah remember now the darkages

    From the azzurri, on Sat 24 Oct 11:56PM

  19. get that right up ya english scum, roll on next week­ see you get humped by the mighty utd you bunch of low­ life unemployed soap dodging tinky scumgers

    From sirstevejones, on Sat 24 Oct 11:44PM

  20. Point 27! Exactly but back then the mosy succesfull­ teams were full of Scots! And even the the resources­ were far greater than in Scotland!!! Scotland 5­ Million people, England 50 odd million. Put your nappy­ on.

    From Mazz McK, on Sat 24 Oct 10:48PM
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