Raith run Rangers close in cup clash

Having been knocked out of the competition by Hamilton the season before, they were shaken by Raith Rovers’ part-timers and left Stark’s Park more than happy with a draw.

At full-time Graeme Souness was clearly an unhappy man, by contrast Rovers’ jubilant fans danced with delight after watching their side come within a whisker of creating a huge cup upset.

They took all the honours from this third-round tie, and it was a disciplined, determined performance from the Kirkcaldy side who simply refused to bow to Rangers’ stars-studded line up of Wilkins. Walters and co.

Rovers more than matched their illustrious opponents man-for-man with aggressive midfield play and solid, confident defending which made a mockery of the gulf between the then Scottish champions and part-time teams.

In Stevie Simpson, Raith also had the man of the match, and the most electrifying player on the park. Undaunted by the big-money signings around him, he displayed a range of skills and turn of pace which caused consternation in the visitors’ defence, and gave Colin Harris the service every striker dreams of.

He more than eclipsed the other number seven, an out-of-touch Davie Cooper, but this was more than a one-man show. Raith’s fans could not find fault in any of the starting 11.

Cammy Fraser was outstanding against his former club and, next to Alex Brash, he snuffed out the goalscoring partnership of McCoist and Durrant with admirable ease.

In midfield Ian Gibson gritted his teeth and came off best against Ray Wilkins, while Paul Sweeney had a superb match on the left, working hard to support his back four, adding strength up front in the closing stages.

Quite simply, Raith looked like a side which wanted to win -and which believed that it could.

Rangers, by comparison, looked mildly disinterested and strangely lethargic and the match finished on a farcical note with Rangers deploying the most juvenile of time-wasting tactics.

As their defenders played pass-the-ball in front of their own goal, several Raith players sat down on the turf in disgust and the astonishing scenes rightly earned the derision of both sets of fans.

Rovers would come off second best in the replay at Ibrox, but once again the gave Rangers a real fright.

The home side took the lead through an Ian Durrant penalty but Davie Lloyd nodded Raith level on 50 minutes.

Thereafter the sides were evenly matched until the part-timers from Kirkcaldy tired and the home side hit three goals in the last 10 minutes.

However, the Rovers players were able to exit the competition with their heads held high.