Rangers 4-2 Gretna: Cousin helps Smith celebrate his 60th

Published on Sunday 24 February 2008 21:16

Rangers 4 Cousin (13) Naismith (22) Burke (60) Boyd (88) Gretna 2 Deuchar (71, 89)

Walter Smith turned 60 yesterday and sprung a surprise with the inclusion of the Gabonese striker in his starting XI for the first time since mid-January. If not everything went Smith's way – the late news from Love Street dampened the atmosphere somewhat – the Rangers manager at least saw Cousin repay his faith with the opening goal against an impressively spirited Gretna side.

Cousin was joined on the scoresheet by Steven Naismith, Chris Burke and substitute Kris Boyd but Kenny Deuchar took advantage of slack defending to claim a double for Gretna. In what has been a trying period for the Dumfriesshire club the players deserved their ovation from the supporters at the end, while Deuchar, whose contract expires at the end of this season, sent out another compelling message to interested parties. He remains the only Gretna player to have scored against Rangers on the domestic stage this year, having also struck for his side at Fir Park in their 2-1 defeat in January.

The decision to play Cousin might not have found favour with everyone inside Ibrox, the player having been rather too open with his desire to leave the club for the English Premier League. But while his move to Fulham hangs in the balance – Fifa are expected to rule on the matter this week – Smith quite rightly considers him available for selection. It took Cousin only 12 minutes to win over those sceptics and put Rangers in front.

This was far different to a wild night in Athens, where Rangers were last in action. Even the Rangers fans seemed conscious of having intruded on private grief. Gretna arrived in Govan with a cargo of worries. Chief among these, of course, is the health of benefactor Brooks Mileson, who was only released from hospital after a brain infection on Friday. A consequence of Mileson's recent absence from the club has been the payment worries which led to manager Davie Irons' departure for Morton last week, along with assistant Derek Collins. The last thing the Gretna fans wanted to see when they consulted the fixture-list was a scheduled appointment with league leaders Rangers at Ibrox.

But some enthusiasm for the task was gleaned from the memory of their last clash with Rangers. The Ibrox side took the points that evening with a 2-1 win, although it was anything but routine. Back in mid-January Gretna still had a fighting chance of saving themselves from the trap door, but this slim hope now appears to have evaporated. More critical is the question over the club's future, with administration having been mentioned last week. It isn't so much a case of living the dream, the club's adopted motto, as living beyond their means.

Although Rangers had almost total command of the game it was remarkable to note Gretna could have been level with their hosts at the break. Although Rangers had struck twice by this point, with Naismith adding to Cousin's opener, Gretna regretted missing two golden chances. For the first of these they were undone by misfortune, with Brendan McGill's clever header coming back off Allan McGregor's far post. The next chance fell for Deuchar after a fine run and cross from left-back Kyle Naughton, but he could not keep his header down and it looped over McGregor's bar.

Rangers proved rather more clinical, with Cousin taking full advantage of a lobbed pass over the static Gretna defence from Barry Ferguson. There was still much to do, and Cousin did well to gather the ball while holding off defender Rhys Meynell. He then rounded goalkeeper Gregg Fleming and converted from a tight angle before basking in the affection from the front rows of the Broomloan stand.

The second goal after 21 minutes was a rather more simple affair. Ferguson sent a corner into the goalmouth and found Naismith on the edge of the six-yard box. It was a feat in itself to find the space he did in such a crowded penalty area, and Naismith made full use of the opportunity and flicked the ball into the net. Any hope of a Gretna recovery disappeared when Chris Burke finished in a composed manner after a strong run down the left from Jean-Claude Darcheville. Half an hour still remained, and although Deuchar struck twice, with two headers, Boyd ensured the margin of victory reflected the balance of the game. He ran onto a nicely weighted ball from the impressive Steven Davis and rounded Fleming to score his 17th goal of the season. But a marksman in the opposition side had the last word, Deuchar scoring the second of his headed brace in the final minute, again after a corner from Mikael Buscher.

Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Whittaker, Burke, Davis, Ferguson, Naismith, Darcheville (Novo 61), Cousin (Boyd 61). Subs not used: Alexander, Dailly, Faye, Furman, Fleck.

Gretna: Fleming, Barr, Hall, Meynell, Naughton, McGill, Murray (Wilkinson 70), Skelton, Deverdics (Baldacchino 77), Deuchar, Kissock (Buscher 70). Subs not used: Krysiak, Makinwa, Schultz-Eklund, Griffiths.