Diligent Rangers take first Scottish Cup step: Sima recall, pyjamaed elephant, fireworks and miracle game went ahead

Against plucky Dumbarton and a wretched pitch, Rangers ease into fifth round with 4-1 victory

That’s Life by Frank Sinatra boomed out over the Dumbarton stadium system at the end of this eventful if not scintillating Scottish Cup tie, a shrug-of-the-shoulders finale that could have been interpreted in a number of different ways.

Was it the League Two part-timers graciously accepting that they had given their all only to succumb to what had looked a foregone conclusion before a ball was even kicked? Or was it more a comment on the accepted madness of sending two teams out into the sort of wretched weather conditions that would have Bear Grylls opting for a night on the sofa and hoping they would serve up a football feast for a watching television audience and 2000 hardy souls inside the ground? Who knows, but it felt very apt indeed.

This could have been a tricky first step on Rangers’ Scottish Cup journey as they opened the second half of the season with the Viaplay Cup already in the cabinet and three further fronts to fight on. Instead they demonstrated the requisite professionalism to break down Dumbarton’s early resistance to eventually scoot home comfortable 4-1 winners. As the rain teemed down and the wind howled in off the Clyde, this was a night where tenacity was as vital as talent.

James Tavernier celebrates with Fabio Silva after scoring to make it 3-0 to Rangers and Dumbarton.

Rangers bit down on the metaphorical gumshield, scoring twice in each half to seal their passage through. Whatever challenge awaits them in the next round, it will surely not be as testing as their evening in the shadow of Dumbarton Rock. “They did what I asked, to be professional, to be switched on in every situation and to adapt to the situation,” was how manager Philippe Clement assessed his team’s work. “On that kind of pitch, we cannot play our normal football. There is not one team in the world who can play really good combination play in those circumstances so you need to adapt. We did that by scoring four goals and creating enough other chances.”

In the circumstances it was a stroke of good fortune that Rangers didn’t appear to have picked up any new injuries, the only fresh casualty coming from thousands of miles away with the news that Abdallah Sima had been sent home from the African Cup of Nations with a thigh injury. “I have been in contact with him already” added Clement. “He is going to come back as fast as possible to make a good assessment and to see how long he will be out.”

This was Clement’s first properly intimate experience of Scottish football, with supporters all crammed along one side of the pitch, the dug-outs on the other, a car park behind one goal, and the river lurking just a wayward shot behind the other. It was a far cry from the hollow, vast caverns of Ibrox, Celtic Park or Hampden. As the Rangers manager strode out to inspect the pitch beforehand, a number of lurking hospitality guests took the chance to grab him for an unexpected selfie opportunity. When a large elephant then appeared wearing what appeared to be white and yellow pyjamas – the Dumbarton mascot of course – before fireworks rained onto the pitch from the beach just outside of the ground, Clement could have been forgiven for wondering if he had lapsed into some sort of hallucinogenic dream.

The Belgian had expressed his frustration with the state of the training pitches during their winter break in Spain – blaming one for the injury sustained by Kieran Dowell – and wouldn’t have been much happier with the surface here. Given the sub-zero temperatures and then the rain that tumbled down from afternoon into evening, however, it was a miracle the game went ahead at all, although it wasn’t long before the surface began to cut up like a golf course ruined by a high-handicap hacker.

Rangers fans welcome the team pre match with pyro and fireworks.

Rangers found a way eventually to cope and prosper but not before dangling hope in front of their hosts’ faces for longer than Dumbarton might have anticipated. That the outcome remained in the balance – in theory – for so long was largely down to Rangers’ wastefulness, most notably through Cyriel Dessers who lashed every shot over the crossbar as if trying to land the ball on the bonnet of a vehicle in the car park. When the striker attempted an acrobatic overhead kick and was cheered ironically by the home fans having fallen embarrassingly on his backside, it began to look as if he was heading for another night to forget. He would get his revenge, though, before the half was out.

Every minnow in this situation hopes for just one opportunity with the scoreboard still blank and Dumbarton had theirs midway through the first half. Michael Ruth looked to have done everything right as he steered Carlo Pignatiello’s cross towards goal only for the striker’s shot to be blocked by Robby McCrorie’s face. The Rangers goalkeeper was making his first competitive outing of the season and had little to do beyond that but it proved pivotal and quelled any possibility, however unlikely, of a Dumbarton upset.

The goals came in two bursts in either half. Man-of-the-match John Lundstram got the first from right under the crossbar after John Souttar had touched on Todd Cantwell’s corner, before Dessers finally found the goal after latching onto an enticing cross from James Tavernier. The pace dropped again after the break, the pitch perhaps having sapped the energy from both sets of players. Tavernier got Rangers’ third from a penalty after a foul on Rabbi Matondo before Dumbarton finally got the goal their endeavours merited when Matthew Shiels glanced in a free kick. Just as the home fans were getting into their celebrations, Rangers stole the final word when Scott Wright drilled in a low shot to end the scoring. That’s life.