Outstanding Cans can hold their head high

Forres Mechanics 0 Rangers 1

It was a day that will live long in the memory of everyone at Mosset Park, and the town as a whole, as Forres Mechanics pushed Rangers all the way in a Scottish Cup second round tie that captured the imagination of the nation.

2751 souls were comfortably positioned around the ground that could have held a few hundred more with ease and they were treated to a top notch performance from the Highland League champions that, with some consistency from the referee and an ounce of luck, could have provided arguably the most famous upset in the history of the national competition.

After the game Charlie Rowley expressed the emotions of the town by stating that he was, “as proud as punch to be manager of a team like that.” The Forres boss exalted his players for their efforts adding, “The performance was outstanding from start to finish and we were really unfortunate to get something out of the game. We have done our utmost to try and get through to the next round, unfortunately we have just came up short.”

“For the last half an hour we were the team in the ascendancy. Rangers were playing one man up front (against ten men) and that tells you all you need to know about how we were playing the game. We consciously made the effort, on this one off occasion, to go and win the game and I think we were the better team in the latter stages of the second half and we were unfortunate not to get something from the game.”

Rangers manager Ally McCoist, who was a real ambassador for his club on the day, also tipped his hat to the Can Cans players. The former Scotland striker said, “The Forres lads deserve the vast majority of the credit today. They did their manager and the town proud. They were extremely good and I have to balance that out and say I am a little bit disappointed with my own team’s performance.

“We had a wonderful level of performance and result in midweek against Motherwell and we didn’t get anywhere near that today. The Forres lads deserve a lot of credit for the way they performed, they didn’t let us play.”

While the plaudits were being handed out to the players there was a lot less to be said for the referee Crawford Allan who, despite doing well over the 90 minutes in general play, made 4 big decisions and every time he favoured the blues.

After the game Charlie Rowley would only be drawn specifically on the two that lead to the dismissal of Nathan Sharp. A frustrated Rowley said, “It was a horrendous sending off. Nathan received his first booking for a foul in the middle of the park and yet their centre half has one that is two or three times worse than that one and gets a wee word in his ear. I am disappointed that the referee showed a wee bit of inconsistency there.

“The second half booking was nothing. He had no intention of handling the ball and how that is a booking I will never know. I am really disappointed with the refereeing decision on that point.”

However while a few frustrations may linger it was to be a day for pride and for Rowley he hopes this will provide the platform for a successful title defense. He revealed that his post match talk lead with thoughts of the next game.

“We had a quiet word with them after the game and said that hopefully this performance will be a springboard for us as we look to go on and try and retain our title. If we can put in a performance like that week in and week out then we won’t be too far away.”

Rangers came to town and after a media frenzy the game began with the Mechanics on the front foot. Barely twenty seconds were on the clock when the Can Cans were denied a penalty kick.

Kyle Scott played the ball wide to Scott Moore and he instantly cut inside right back Anestis Argyriou who stopped the ball with an arm that was level with his shoulder before catching Moore with a combination of knee and elbow as the two collided. What were the chances of Forres being given a first minute penalty against Rangers? That’s right, nil. However the decision to deem the handball as accidental became doubly ironic later in the game.

From there Rangers settled first and looked the likelier to score and they duly took the lead on the 13th minute. Jet heeled winger Fraser Aird had the chance to open his legs and zoom past Graham Fraser before zipping a ball across from the left that fell back to Kal Naismith and from 9 yards he slotted into the bottom right hand corner of Stuart Knight’s goal with his left foot.

It took a great save from Stuart Knight to prevent the visitors from building a head of steam, the keeper leaping to his left to tip a low Lee McCulloch free kick away from the bottom corner of the net.

Forres remained on the back foot but they defended excellently with Nathan Sharp and Graeme Grant in the middle keeping Lee McCulloch very quiet while Graham Fraser had stepped up to silence Fraser Aird. Left back Simon Allan was also beginning to show his set piece prowess delivering a series of dangerous corners into the six yard box.

In a rare attacking moment from open play Scott Lawrie turned his man down the left and swung a great low ball into the back post area where the impressive Scott Moore was just a whisker away from connecting. Rangers added to their shots on tally with a few from range that were comfortably taken before Nathan Sharp met a Simon Allan corner with a header at the back post that was grabbed out of the top corner by Neil Alexander.

The Glasgow giants had resorted to long and ineffective diagonal balls from the back and only once managed to play their way through midfield to create a chance. Once again the move lead to Aird finding room on the left and his dangerous ball to the back edge of the six yard box was well dealt with by Simon Allan who was in the right position to head clear.

Half Time: Forres Mechanics 0 Rangers 1

Forres had got to half time just a goal down and the second half was to belong to them. They started well and simply grew throughout the period. On the hour mark an inswinging free kick from Simon Allan was met by the outstretched foot of Kyle Scott who was able to direct it on target, but the legs of Neil Alexander kept it out.

From the corner that followed Scott could only glance his header wide following a nick of the defenders head as he looked set to bullet the ball home, with Nathan Sharp waiting just behind him with the same intention.

The pressure was building, the goal was coming and then a big decision eased the tension slightly on the visitors. A heavy touch from Ross Macpherson allowed Lewis McLeod to nip in and win the ball and when he flicked it past Nathan Sharp out on the left just inside the Forres half it struck the centre backs arm at exactly the same height as it had hit Argyriou in the first minute.

There was a real sense of injustice about the fact the position on the pitch and the colour of the jersey made it an apparently easy decision for the referee to make to give the foul and as a result issue a yellow card which was followed by a red. The standing ovation Sharp received on his way off reflected the level of his performance and the appreciation of it from the Forres fans.

By this time Kevin Kyle was up top for Rangers with McCulloch joining the midfield so would it prove too much for the Mechanics? Not at all and Rangers had to resort to playing a 4-5-1 formation against the ten men Cans. Indeed it should have been 10 v 10 for the last 20 minutes but referee Allan again ducked a big decision when he ignored Lee McCulloch booting Martin McMullen in an off the ball incident that occurred just 10 yards in front of the Edinburgh based whistler.

The corner count continued to rise for Forres but they missed the presence of “big Nath” as Rangers held on and in a rare attack sub Robbie Crawford forced a fantastic reflex stop from Stuart Knight with a near post volley from 8 yards out.

Two minutes from time came the Can Cans last half chance. Once again it was a corner from Simon Allan that caused the problem with Graham Fraser this time being the man to outmuscle his marker but although he craned his neck he just couldn’t get behind the ball enough to put it back on target and from 10 yards it flew 2 yards wide of the far post.

The clock ticked down, the whistle went and as a man the crowd stood to express their pride in the teams performance. There was a tangible sense of frustration that key decisions went the way of Rangers but an overwhelming desire to thank the players for expending everything they had in the search of a giant killing.

Forres Mechanics: S Knight, G Fraser, S Allan, G Grant, N Sharp, R Macpherson, M McMullan, K Duguid (R Mackintosh 74), S Lawrie, K Scott, S Moore (M Davidson 82) Subs: F Bremner, S Fraser, C Stuart

Scorers: -

Booked: R Macpherson (34), N Sharp (41, 65), S Allan (89) Sent Off: N Sharp (65)

Rangers: N Alexander, A Argyriou (K Kyle 60), E Cribari, R Perry, L Wallace, L McCulloch, S Faure, K Hutton, K Naismith, L Macleod, F Aird (R Crawford 75), Subs: C Hegarty, B Mackay, S Gallacher

Scorer: K Naismith (13)

Booked: K Hutton (57) Sent Off: -

Referee: C Allan