A humorous handshake from Andy Halliday, one week after his sending off for celebrating suggested the football authorities were intent on taking the fun out of football. The Rangers midfielder was at the centre of a media storm at Cappielow last Monday when he received a second yellow card for shaking a fist at the opposition fans from a range of 30 yards but as he returned from his one-match suspension he made his point in the perfect manner. After arriving on the stroke of half-time to convert James Tavernier's cross, he decided against the first pumps in favour of clamping his hand over his mouth and soon it was handshakes all round in the style of 1950s Harry Enfield character Mr Cholmondley-Warner. The SFA compliance officer is probably poring over the videotape right now.
While the Michael O'Halloran era at Rangers began with a roar, the visiting fans greeting the arrival of the £500,000 signing from St Johnstone from the bench on the hour mark, his was a low key contribution. One cross from the right was just out of reach of Martyn Waghorn in the middle but this bitter night amid difficult conditions in deepest, darkest Fife wasn't one for free-flowing football. Rangers did enough to get the job done against a difficult opponent and maintained their eight point advantage on Hibs at the top of the championship, even if the home side felt they had an equaliser from Harry Panayiotou wrongly disallowed for a foul from Lewis Toshney on Dean Shiels.
O'Halloran had started on the bench, alongside Billy King, the on-loan Hearts winger whose last minute finish against Falkirk had won the day on Saturday. The club's only other deadline day signing was midfielder Mekhi McLeod, a midfielder from Wolves, but he is thought to be a youth team player and some way off first team action. Dominic Ball anchored the midfield, releasing Halliday to venture forward into his preferred attacking midfield role.
Raith Rovers, on the week they celebrated the 20-year anniversary of their heroics against Bayern Munich, had also been active during the January window, bringing in former Dundee United winger Aidan Connolly and Leicester City striker Panayiotou, with the former starting and the latter having to settle on the place on the bench. They hadn't managed to score a goal in their last four games.
While these were fairly horrific conditions for watching, let alone playing football, the first half was more windswept than it was interesting, although Martyn Waghorn started the match on a one-man mission to open the scoring. He outstripped three men down the right only to get crowded out in the first minute, then forced a fine save from Cuthbert after a quick Zelalem pass. Rangers also struck the woodwork, a Halliday free-kick deflecting off the last Raith defender but bouncing back off the post.
The home side had offered zero as an attacking force and their resistance was broken before half time. Miller fed Tavernier down the right, and his low cross was perfect for the onrushing Halliday, whose momentum nearly took him into the post. Scoring right in front of the home fans, he opted for a more discreet celebration than last week.
Raith could hardly have been much worse than they were in the opening period, and in fact they were significantly better. Louis Longridge saw a flick saved by Foderingham after a Rory McKeown cross, and the livewire substitute Panayiotou had the ball in the net, even if referee Euan Anderson's whistle had long since gone for a foul by Toshney on Shiels. Manager Ray McKinnon was angry about that afterwards, as he was about what he called an elbow from Dominic Ball in an aerial challenge with James Craigen which meant his midfield substitute had to be replaced.
Rangers rarely looked like extending their tally, apart from a low shot from Shiels which whistled narrowly wide, but on a night like this, one was more than enough. Halliday had proved the matchwinner and deservedly took the acclaim of the crowd post-match.
“I thought we were very good in the first half and we were disappointed not to get more goals because we were dominant," said Mark Warburton afterwards. "In the second half the wind was gusting, it was a difficult surface which was cutting up and it wasn’t as good, but I thought both teams put in good performances. But we were comfortable and dominated possession. The centre halves were comfortable and we deserved the result.
"It was difficult to play on that surface but when you come to places like this, against a difficult opponent, it’s a good victory," he added. "It’s the same three points you get for winning at Ibrox in front of 50,000. No matter how big the crowd is or what the conditions are like, the points are the same."
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