In The Glorious Glasgow Sunshine: Trophy Number 111

The sun was shining for the showpiece of Scottish football, the newly renamed Homecoming Scottish Cup final played out in an unexpected fashion, the newly crowned SPL Champions Rangers faced a Falkirk team who had secured their place in the top league for another year. The stage was set for the underdog performance that captures the heart and imagination of any major trophy competition, but surely Rangers would be too strong for them.

Rangers were rocked with the news that the heart of their title winning team had been ruled out, Pedro Mendes and Maurice Edu who had done so much in the league had both picked up knocks leaving the door open for ex-Captain Barry Ferguson to make an unexpected return to the starting line-up, he was joined by Lee McCulloch, back from injury and who also hadn't featured in a few weeks.

The nerves were starting to set in with this news.

The pressure was well and truly on the Ibrox club, facing a Falkirk team that had youth, passion and skill, this was all too apparent.

It was a beautiful day as Falkirk kicked off the 124th Scottish Cup final and straight from the off they done themselves proud, holding the ball, passing superbly, working their way forward against the best defence in the league, slicing through the Rangers midfield with ease.

It was all too obvious that the two central midfielders were in serious need of match fitness, they had no drive, no control and were posted missing for just about the full match, somehow they made the full 90 minutes.

Neil McCann was running riot, the former Rangers winger was a thorn in the side of the cup holders, within a few minutes he had seen a decieving shot skim the top of the cross bar and a volley pass within inches of the post, despite his age he was all over the place.

The Rangers team, as they have done all season, seemed to sit back and invite Falkirk to come at them, the defence, as it has done all season, stood firm, Madjid Bougherra showed yet again why he is by far and away the best defender in the country and why Rangers fans voted him club player of the year.

The first half went by and Falkirk dominated, the two Rangers strikers had few chances and were recieving absolutely nothing from an invisible midfield, the defence stood resolute, every wave of attack was swatted away, Bougherra, Weir and Alexander an impenetrable wall, this was the only saving grace of a pathetic performance, the only real chance coming from a corner, Big Davie Weir's header was superbly nodded over by Steve Lovell.

At half time the news came that Kris Boyd was to be replaced by Nacho Novo, the support was stunned by what seemed an unbelievable decision, the obvious change would have been in the middle of the park but the wee Spaniard is royal blue through and through, it took him all of 28 seconds and all of 1 touch to send the blue half of Hampden into rapturous celebration, a goal worthy of winning the cup, the 25 yard dipping volley came from a throw in and completely outwitted the Falkirk keeper, Nacho hasn't scored a greater goal.

Walter Smith certainly showed why he is the manager.

The Falkirk team were rightfully gutted as they had controlled the match and after some post goal pressure from a more confident Rangers they took the ball back and continued to press, wave after wave sliced through the heart of where the Rangers midfield should have been but every time they came up against a defence that knew it was up to them and at the heart of that defence Bougherra and Weir stood side by side clearing everything fired at them.

Falkirk went with a triple substitution to bolster their attack in search of an equaliser and it nearly became another case of the super sub with all three players linking up to get the ball in the net, it was close but was rightfully ruled offside.

With time running out it was heart in mouth time for everyone in blue, the ball found it's way to striker Lovell in the Rangers 6 yard box and his rather tame shot was deflected and looked like it was trickling towards the net, the keeper was beat but it hit the post and was knocked to safety, it truly was squeeky bum time for the Gers.

The attacks continued but it wasn't to be, the final whistle was blown and Novo's fantastic strike was enough to ensure that Walter Smith's Rangers had retained their Scottish Cup just as they did in his first stint in charge, it was the 18th double in Rangers history, it was trophy number 111 for the Ibrox club.

Madjid Bougherra was awarded Man of the Match for a performance in which he excelled, he recognised the weakness of the midfield and aswell as being a rock at the back took it upon himself to mount several attacks, he done the job of 3 players and done every one of them with the class and style that he has shown all season.

Falkirk manager John Hughes can feel proud of each and every player on that Hampden park and should be lauded for building an exciting team.

The crowd showed their appreciation for Davie Weir as he lifted the famous trophy aloft, they showed their support of Barry Ferguson's years of service and they showed their love of top scorer Boyd and match winner Novo but the roar that usually reverberates around Ibrox was moved to the national stadium and was kept for a triumphant Walter Smith, brought back to steady a sinking ship he has led the team to 5 cup finals and he has brought the league title back to it's rightful home in the Ibrox trophy room.

It was far from a classic performance but when they tied the ribbons to the oldest trophy in the world, they were the red, white and the glorious royal blue of the Famous Glasgow Rangers.

-/-Ace-\-

www.talkingfootball.co.uk

An Afternoon in Tannadice: The Story of The Champions

The story of the 2008/09 SPL Championship was a fight between 2 much maligned teams, both at points in the season were said to lack the passion and ability of previous years. The yearly battle between the Old Firm carried on as it has done for decades, Celtic aiming for 4 in a row and Rangers fighting tooth and nail to stop it, both teams desperate for the automatic Champions League position and the financial rewards that come with it.

After 37 games of up and downs, cheers and jeers it would come down to the last game of the season, Helicopter Sunday 2.

Rangers were sitting 2 points ahead in the league but facing a goal difference defecit of 1, if Celtic won then Rangers had to take the 3 points. So it was a case of win at all costs, win the game and win the league, stop the Celtic challenge and become heroes for a new generation. An easy task you would think for one of the big 2, but this game was at Tannadice, a ground that had not yeilded the full three points for 3 years, a Dundee United team who were still fighting for a European spot, a Rangers team who were said to lack the bottle of champions.

Before the game the usual reports in the press were from Celtic players saying Rangers didn't deserve to win the league and this helped to give the players the boost that would ultimately see them crowned Champions of Scotland.

Kick off was at 1 O'clock and straight from the kick off it was clear who's day it would be, the crowd inside Tannadice were bouncing, vocal, the 12th man, and they done their team the service of making it quite clear they were there and they were taking no prisoners. Lining up 4-4-2 the Gers pushed from the very start and that paid off in the 6th minute when a sublime pass from the outside of Davis' right boot found Boyd in space, the prolific hitman turned provider as he turned and delivered a ball across to Man of the Match Lafferty who challenged well and prodded past a helpless Zaluska, the stadium and half the country exploded in delight.

Davis continued to be a problem on the right and delivered a low cross to the backpost that was blazed over the bar by Kenny Miller, the rest of the first half was tight with Dundee United's only real chance coming from a David Robertson header that was easily claimed by goalkeeper Alexander. Paul Dixon had a good spell, delivering a few crosses into the Rangers box but the best defense in the league held firm under every wave of attack. As the time ticked on it was again time for a Rangers assault, 32 minutes had past and Lafferty again had the ball in the net but it was chopped off as Miller was offside when he delivered the ball to the Ulsterman, a few minutes later it was Kris Boyd's turn, some clever play in the box and a delightful turn gave the deadliest striker in the country a sight at goal but some good defending by Kovacevic denied Boyd his goal on the line. The second inevitably came on the stroke of half time, Dods gave away a shocking freekick on the edge of the area and up stepped Sasa Papac, his deadball was struck against the side of the United wall and fell perfectly for Pedro Mendes to unleash one of his trademark bullets, his first won goal of the season, his last cemented Rangers position at the top of the pile, struck expertly through a mass of orange shirts he found the bottom corner and left Zaluska as helpless as he was for the first.

As the teams ran out for the second half the stadium was buzzing with the sense of impending celebration, no-one knew what would happen over the course of 45 minutes, would United mount an attack that would pull the title from their grasp, would Rangers hold out for a famous victory, we would soon find out.

It took only 7 minutes before the question was answered and both game and title were wrapped up, and it had to be the number 9, the man who has scored more goals than anyone in the team, more than anyone in the country, Kris Boyd scored number 31 of the season and secured himself his first SPL winners medal, a Steven Whittaker cross tore apart the United defense and Boyd drove through the heart of the box to fire past an again helpless Zaluska, the delight was evident, the screams of the crowd drowning out the home support, every one in the country knew that Rangers were Champions yet again.

Substitute Sandaza tried to get a quick reply but as with every United attack it was poorly wasted, Rangers took their foot off the pedal and sat back on their 3 goal lead, waiting to be crowned. Subsitutions were made and it was a fitting run out for Barry Ferguson and Nacho Novo, the 2 players in the squad who bleed royal blue, for all their valued service they deserved to play their part and Novo forced the keeper into a save after some good play. As the game drew to a close United finally managed a proper attack and it was left to their substitute centre back to force Alexander into a superb save from a volley.

The final whistle was heard, then all you could hear in Dundee was the rapture of the Rangers support, after 3 long years the SPL title was coming home, number 52 was won, trophy number 109 was off the helicopter and safely in the hands of the boys in royal blue. The faces of the players told the story, the voices of the fans painted the picture, the SPL table said all that needed to be said

Rangers are Champions.

-/-Ace-\-

www.talkingfootball.co.uk