Forfar Athletic 0-4 Rangers – Scottish FA Cup Live Blog – 18 February 2009

With all the excitement surrounding the FA Cup, it can sometimes be easy to forget Scotland’s answer to the world’s oldest knockout competition. But not here at Daily Soccer Blog. We’ll be on hand to provide updates throughout the fifth round tie between third division side Forfar Athletic and Glasgow giants Rangers.

Match Preview

To say this is a David vs Goliath encounter would be an understatement. Forfar are third-from-bottom in the basement division of the Scottish Football League. They have won twice at home this season and have lost their last two in the league, away at East Stirling and Albion Rovers.

The Scottish FA Cup has been kind to them though. They did not enter until the third round and defeated Stranraer 2-0. The fourth round paired them with Forres Mechanics, whom they brushed aside by an emphatic 6-1 scoreline. Manager Dick Campbell does not hold out much hope against the Gers, stating simply: “I will be looking for them to go out there and give it their best shot”.

Rangers drew 0-0 with Celtic on the weekend and they find themselves two points behind their local rivals in second place in the SPL. Walter Smith’s side are undefeated in their last seven league and cup matches and go into the match as heavy bookmaker favourites. Rangers saw off first division side St. Johnstone 2-0 in the previous round.

Defender Kirk Broadfoot will miss out after injuring his foot in Sunday’s Old Firm clash but Kyle Lafferty is expected to recover from a calf problem. Striker Kris Boyd, with 23 goals to his name this season, could feature after not featuring on the weekend.

Line Ups

Forfar: Brown, McNally, Tod, Tulloch, Elliot Smith, Gordon, Brady, Winter, Graham Gibson, Campbell, Lilley.
Subs: John Gibson, Donachie, Sean Kilgannon, Fotheringham, McGuigan.

Rangers: McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, Bougherra, Edu, Beasley, McCulloch, Naismith, Miller, Boyd.
Subs: Alexander, Dailly, Lafferty, Niguez, Davis.

Goals

Rangers: Papac (9′), Miller (54′), Niguez (84′), Miller (90′)

Live Blog

90+1′ Lafferty almost adds his own name to the scoresheet with a stinging effort from inside the box. The referee spares Forfar further humiliation and blows for full time.

90′ Goal! Forfar 0 Rangers 4. A corner finds its way to Davis on the edge of the box. He crosses it in to Lafferty at the far post, who heads it across the face of goal to Kenny Miller, who gobbles up the easy task of nodding the ball home from a couple of yards out. Easy.

89′ Substitute McGuigan is booked for a lunge on Naismith.

84′ Goal! Forfar 0 Rangers 3. Lafferty plays a through ball from the halfway line which is completely missed by by the tiring Forfar defence. Aaron Niguez makes no mistake this time and curls in an effort from the edge of the area to mark his first Rangers goal. He takes his shirt off to celebrate and is duly booked.

81′ A quick Rangers break ends with Miller latching into a through ball and attempting a first time lob from the edge of the box after it comes back to him off a defender. He gets it all wrong, it has neither the height or pace to beat Brown who plucks the ball out of the air with ease.

80′ Lee McCulloch hobbles off for Rangers and Steven Davis comes on in his place.

79′ Rangers are camped in Forfar’s half now. Bougherra crosses into the box and Naismith glances the ball inches wide. Fitness levels are taking their toll on Forfar and even if the Gers don’t add to the scoreline, it doesn’t look like the home side can offer anything in attack.

76′ Papac crosses into the far post but Naismith’s effort from close range is blocked behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.

74′ Martyn Fotheringham replaces Craig Winter and Mark McGuigan comes on for Darren Brady as Forfar ring the changes.

73′ Good news for Beasley who is shown walking up and down the touchline. It really was a shocking challenge and the consequences could have been a lot worse.

72′ That’s the end of Beasley’s contribution this evening. He is replaced by 19-year-old Spaniard Aaron Niguez for only his second appearance for Rangers.

70′ Red Card! Elliot Smith is shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on DaMarcus Beasley, studs up straight into the player’s shin.

68′ Lafferty is looking lively since coming on. He timed a run perfectly to beat the offside trap but Brown came out to meet him on the edge of the box. Seconds later the former Burnley striker sidefooted a ball into the danger area but Forfar, defending deeply, hammered it away to safety.

67′ Rangers are in total control of the match but have taken their foot off the pedal. Whittaker whips a ball into the box but it’s well cleared.

65′ Boyd isn’t going to get his goal today as he is replaced by Kyle Lafferty. Or he would be, if he trudged off the field at anything faster than a snail’s pace.

63′ Play stops briefly after replays show Miller flattens Tulloch with a trailing arm when both players chase after the same ball. He gets away with it.

60′ Forfar, who are showing no signs of tiring just yet, try and force the issue around the Rangers penalty box but Weir and Bougherra are equal to it.

58′ Goal scorer Papac goes into the book for a reckless diving tackle on Kevin Gordon.

54′ Goal! Forfar 0 Rangers 2. Beasley plays a ball into the box which is cleared poorly by McNally straight into the path of Kenny Miller. He is allowed far too much time on the ball to set himself up and fire in a dipping shot past the despairing Brown. The second goal has been coming and now the floodgates could open for the Gers.

51′ Boyd is in the thick of the action again when he beats the labouring Tod for pace and attempts to go around the keeper. Brown is having none of it and toe pokes the ball behind for a corner.

50′ Boyd provides a clinical finish from Beasley’s ball into the box but the former Kilmarnock man has the goal ruled out for offside.

49′ McNally, one of the few players in the Forfar team with SPL experience, thunders a free kick well over from 20 yards. The home side have started the first half quite well, in that they haven’t conceded a second goal.

46′ Rangers get the second half underway and should be heartened by the fact Forfar have conceded a whopping 55 goals in their last 12 games. I don’t fancy Forfar’s chances – Rangers have kept six clean sheets in their last eight matches.

Half Time. Rangers have been comfortable apart for a couple of chances for the home side. Forfar’s fitness could come into question during the latter stages of the game as this is just the fourth time they have played since Christmas. The first half has been frenetic, with Brown pulling off some fantastic saves to keep his side in the game, but if Rangers keep up the pace, they could score a hatful in the second half.

43′ Another great chance for Rangers goes begging. A cross from Beasley is blocked as far as Papac who sends the ball in back across the face of goal. Miller leaves it for Boyd who volleys it wide of the far post. Forfar should be dead and buried by now but are still in it at only one goal down.

42′ Brady goes into the referee’s book for hacking at Lee McCulloch.

40′ Another great chance for Rangers goes begging. Boyd outjumps Tod at the far post and heads the ball across to Miller who tries an audacious overhead kick. He connects with the ball crisply enough but it’s straight at Brown who parries it away. The ball drops to Beasley who slips before he is able to take a swipe at it and the chance is gone.

38′ Derek Lilley blasts a shot over the bar and the commentator reveals the shot-shy former Leeds striker is without a goal since November. Some things never change.

36′ Another chance for Forfar. Tulloch sees a header from a corner blocked and Tod thunders in the rebound but is blocked out by three Rangers defenders. Tod has another effort from the resulting corner, but his half-volley goes wide of the far post.

33′ The replay showed McGregor had a kick out at Tod and is lucky to still be on the field. A more alert referee would have shown him a straight red for such an act.

32′ Some shenanigans in the Rangers box when the gereatric Todd nudged goalkeeper McGregor, preventing him from releasing the ball quickly as the defender would not have a hope in hell of getting back in time. The referee felt some degree of sympathy for the former Dunfermline man and opted not to show him a card.

30′ Should have been 2-0 to Rangers. Miller switched the ball from right to left quickly, with Beasley bearing down on goal. If anything, Beasley had too much time and instead of picking a corner he hammered the ball straight at Brown.

29′ Half chance for Forfar as Campbell finds himself in the box. Old stager Weir nicks the ball off his feet and clears the ball to safety.

26′ Tulloch is the first player to be booked after tugging Beasley to the ground during a quick Rangers break. The USA international was too fast and you feel more bookings will be given in this manner as the match wears on.

24′ Some of the floodlights have failed at Station Park. Hopefully there is enough money in the meter to enable the match to play to its conclusion. I’ll be really annoyed if I get so far blogging about it and then have to quit halfway through because the lights have gone out.

23′ Campbell tries a speculative effort for the home side but it’s well wide. At least it gives his poor defenders a breather for a few moments. They have been run ragged this half.

20′ Miller sees a shot blocked and seconds later Whittaker has a go from the edge of the box. The ball swerves as it heads towards goal but Brown is equal to the danger and stops the ball dead. If it had been travelling a bit faster it could have easily squirmed in through his legs.

18′ Some good possession play by Rangers finishes with Whittaker sending a dangerous ball into the area. Boyd heads it towards goal from a standing position but it’s straight at goalkeeper Brown.

13′ A miss hit clearance is played in towards Miller by Beasley, who tries an outside-of-the-foot effort a few yards from goal, but gets it all wrong and screws it wide. Unsurprisingly it’s been all Rangers so far and the Forfar players are already wondering when the half-time whistle will be blown.

11′ Papac closes the ball down and plays the ball into the area. Forfar deal with it half-heartedly and Naismith has a go from just inside the area. It’s blocked, but Forfar are in danger of conceding another one.

9′ Goal! Forfar 0 Rangers 1. That didn’t take long did it? Beasley and Miller combine on the edge of the box with the latter slipping the ball through to Sasa Papac who advanced into the penalty box. He was completely unmarked and allowed to slot the ball home coolly and settle any nerves the Gers may have had.

5′ Papac is caught ball watching and Kevin Gordon beats him to it in the air. McGregor came a long way out of his goal to punch it clear and a little bit of luck for the Forfar player could have seen the ball headed into an empty net.

3′ Edu and Whittaker combine in the first real attack for Rangers and get a corner. Beasley’s corner is cleared but it drops to Whittaker 20 yards out. He has time to line up a volley but it goes just wide of the post.

1′ Forfar get us started and they will be hoping to pull off one of the great Cup upsets of all time. Or perhaps they’ll make do with not getting completely humilated.

0′ Rangers are not messing about tonight. Assistant manager Ally McCoist, who picks the side  for the Cup games, starts with Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller up front. Those two can tear apart most defences in the SPL, let alone one struggling in the third division. The last time these met in the Cup was in 2002 and Rangers thrashed Forfar 6-0. Hopefully there will be some goals to write about tonight!

0′ I can’t pretend I’m a particular fan of Scottish football and would struggle to name a starting line-up for Rangers, let alone Forfar. The third divison side includes your usual gaggle of postmen, lorry drivers and gas engineers, but sharp-eyed fans may also spot a couple of familiar names. Stalwart defender Andy Tod played over 200 games for Dunfermline and had spells in England with Stockport and Bradford. Up front is Derek Lilley, who had an unproductive spell at Leeds in the late 1990s following a £500,000 switch from Morton. He is now a sales rep.

Reaction

The result was never in question but Forfar remained in the game for a long time, so they have nothing to feel ashamed about. The sending off marred the game and a combination of being a player down and having played just a few matches since Christmas was always going to allow Rangers to add to their tally. The SPL side put four past their third division opponents, but it should have been a lot more. Walter Smith’s team didn’t get out of second gear for much of the game and looked to do just enough to seal their place in the quarter finals.

Man of the Match

If it wasn’t for goalkeeper Ally Brown, then Forfar would have been on the end of a real hammering. I know I said before I couldn’t award Man of the Match to a player who conceded four goals, but the third division goalkeeper was in inspired form throughout the match against a much higher calibre of opponent than he would usually face. Aaron Niguez looked excellent following his introduction and Rangers looked far more dangerous with him on the pitch and of course Miller showed his quality with two goals. However, it is Brown who deserves the accolade for pulling off a string of reaction saves and staying sharp until the end while his team-mates flagged and left him to it.