Rangers drop from the top with loss to Caley Thistle

The Rangers championship hopes nosedived with a 1-0 loss to Inverness Caley Thistle. With the loss, coupled with Celtics victory over Kilmarnock, the Gers find themselves three points behind their rivals. Quite obviously the story-line of the match was a further pronouncement that the Terry Butcher-era was going strong as his side has done a complete about face with him at the helm.

With this past weekends lineup as the general template, Walter Smith made only one adjustment bringing in John Fleck for Kyle Lafferty and as Rangers supporters have come to expect, the seventeen year-old provided a number of shining moments. From the get-go the Rangers appeared confident but as the score suggests, finishing was a horror show. An early through ball by Steven Davis set Kris Boyd free but he blundered the opportunity and the first of many bullets were dodged by Caley Thistle. A later link up between John Fleck and Kenny Miller once again provided Kris Boyd a point blank opportunity but the beleagured strikes effort was denied by 'keeper Ryan Esson. I should be no surprise that Mr. Butcher's side showed a determined defending side, classic discipline in shape and held strong the Rangers advances. While the Gers were able to have quality possession, sight lines on the goal were far from optimal and many efforts were speculative in nature. Through the second forty-five Kris Boyd's frustrations continued as his attempts were snuffed-out. However that frustration boiled over throughout Ibrox when David Weir brought down David Proctor and the spot was pointed to. Confidently Ian Black stepped up and sent the ball into the net, giving his side the 1-0 victory and the points needed to climb from relegation.

Photo Credit: Rangers (Craig Halket and Aileen Wilson)