Rangers: Nicky Clark revels in Glebe winner

Nicky Clark celebrates with the Rangers supporters after his late winner completed a dramatic comeback against Brechin. Picture: SNS

The forward came off the bench to claim the decisive goal on a day when the Ibrox club staged a dramatic comeback to win 4-3 and maintain their 100 per cent Scottish League One record. Clark raced over to the Rangers fans to celebrate his 84th-minute header, earning one of the 11 yellow cards that were brandished by referee Craig Charleston.

He said: “The ref was a bit card happy wasn’t he? It’s the hardest job in football to be a referee though.

“I got booked after the goal. It’s the worst rule I’ve ever heard of to get booked for celebrating with the fans, but I’ll take it.

“As soon as I jumped in I knew I was getting booked, but I wasn’t caring.”

Clark joined Rangers in the summer following an impressive spell with Queen of the South, during which he netted more than 40 goals last season.

His appearances at the Ibrox club have been limited so far, but he hopes Saturday’s goal will help him force his way into manager Ally McCoist’s plans.

He added: “It was an unbelievable feeling to score. To score the winning goal was amazing. The first half wasn’t the best, but I was just looking for a chance to do well and thankfully I did.

“I knew when I came to Rangers that they are a massive, massive club and they have a great squad here so when you get your chance you have to take it and I think I managed to do that.

“The manager just said to go on and work really hard and, if you get a chance to take it, and that’s what I did.”

Rangers were trailing to goals by Graham Hay and Jonny Brown after just ten minutes, before Jon Daly pulled a goal back with a cool finish beyond Graeme Smith after collecting a Lewis Macleod pass.

Alan Trouten restored the two-goal advantage for the home side after some poor Rangers defending, but goals by Bilel Mohsni and Nicky Law cancelled out the lead, before Clark struck late on. The substitute glanced home an excellent header with 84 minutes on the clock following a David Templeton cross.

Clark added “Fair play to Brechin because they put us under a lot of pressure and, when we got it back to 2-1, they scored again. But I think we showed our class in the end to win the game.”

Brechin manager Ray McKinnon – whose goalscorer Trouten was dismissed at the end following a second booking – was disappointed that his team finished the match empty-handed.

“I thought we deserved something out of the game. The guys were excellent,” said McKinnon, whose side are second bottom of League One, just a point clear of Airdrieonians.

“Rangers were on a great run and we know what they are all about. They’ve got quality throughout their side, but I thought we did great.

“We are disappointed, but we take huge positives out of the game.”