Alan Pattullo: Rangers fans bring colour to title party, but late arrival Nacho proves a crass act

NEVER mind the Ballingry Loyal, let's hear it for the Balcony Loyal. As expected, Rangers fans exhausted every possible avenue to obtain a brief for this most exclusive of title parties. The demolition of the east stand at Easter Road provided imaginative away supporters with a very alternative viewing point, one free from the anxiety that comes with attempting to sit on one's hands in what amounts to enemy territory.

There were of course those who did choose this option and Kyle Lafferty's 17th-minute winning goal made them easy to identify. Rangers fans sitting in what were ostensibly Hibernian areas of the ground led to some worrying flashpoints in both the main stand and also the corner of the south stand.

But those appearing to be having the most fun were the high-spirited group whose vantage point would normally have been obscured behind what was the east stand. The new-build flats on the piece of land known as the Lochend Butterfly had been turned into executive boxes for the afternoon. The dress code was strict: come as a superhero or don't come at all.

All the gang were there: Bananaman, Superman, Spiderman and whoever it is who wears only his Y-fronts and a ruby-coloured curtain tied around his neck. One superhero was absent. David Weir's presence was required on the pitch, where the 39-year-old Rangers skipper's record of having played every minute of every league match continued. He briefly let his guard down afterwards and was spotted indulging in some brief 'bouncy, bouncy' lunacy. But the veteran's dignity remained intact, though this is not something that can be said of some of his team-mates.

In all dictionaries, next to the phrase 'milking it', should be added: See Nacho Novo. The wee man, as we must refer to him, has an autobiography on the shelves soon. I Said No Thanks is its curious title, an apparent reference to his decision to turn down a move to Celtic from Dundee. Novo got his obligatory 15-minute run-out yesterday at the end and then celebrated at the final whistle as though he had scored the winner. At least Lafferty, the other Rangers player with a cavalier attitude to maintaining self-respect, had been the one to actually seal the championship. But this achievement still does not make his trademark robotic dance routine any easier to forgive.

Its cringe-inducing properties have not been dulled by repeated viewings. The free-scoring Lafferty has now body-popped in three of his last four matches. He even did it again at the end in front of the 1,500 Rangers fans who crammed into the reduced capacity away end.

Where was Nacho to say 'no thanks'? At that precise moment the Spanish striker was doing his impression of a beachcomber at Torremolinos. He was helping himself to every item of Rangers regalia that had been tossed from the away fans onto the pitch. By the time he vacated the pitch he looked like the most attention-grabbing audience member at the Last Night at the Proms. Union Jack blazer? Check. Union Jack bowler hat? Check. Myriad red blue and white scarves? Check.

Novo was the most demented presence among the throng on the pitch and had already even tried to scale the security fence designed to keep reprobates away from the diggers and cranes parked up alongside the pitch. Novo was attempting to display – via a series of clapping hand gestures – his gratitude to the fans who had done whatever they had to do to secure a balcony view from the flats behind the building site. About 70 or so had spent the 90 minutes hopping up and down on the main concourse. Others were hanging out of windows. Come on over to my place, we're having a party.

For once, all the action was not occurring in the kitchen. Instead, this bash was being staged out in the open air, where the additional entertainment included live and exclusive access to a Hibernian v Rangers fixture that was taking place in the equivalent of the back garden. There might have been some who decided to take the Bill Shankly option of drawing the curtains. The Liverpool manager once made the famously curt observation that this is what he'd do if Everton happened to be playing in his garden. You can imagine more than few bruised Hibbie householders adopting a similar view and turning their back on the opportunity to watch Rangers make merry on the sacred turf.

The Rangers fans were generally left alone to get on with it. The only likely hazard was a stray ball landing in their vicinity. Although a couple of acres separated them from the pitch the threat of this was never firmly ruled out, particularly when the mercurial Lafferty was on the ball. His winning strike deserved all the acclaim going and kept up his recent record of scoring not only important goals, but also special ones. Yet he has not turned into Zinedine Zidane overnight, as his miserable attempt on goal in the second half confirmed. The ball skidded off his foot in the direction of the flats, and had more chance of coming to rest inside the cab of a JCB digger than the net. But he persevered on a glory afternoon for both him and his team.