A DAY of overwhelming frustration for Rangers was encapsulated in the moments after referee John McKendrick had blown his whistle to mark the end of a seven-match winning run and a performance best described as pedestrian and predictable.

Ian Black picked up the ball, booting it into the main stand before storming up the tunnel. Bilel Mohsni, face like thunder, followed. No handshakes. No pleasantries. Nothing.

It is not the conduct the Ibrox club has traditionally demanded from its players and is unlikely to have gone down well with their manager, Ally McCoist. Mind you, struggling to eke out a draw at places such as Alloa Athletic has hardly been the Rangers way of things over the years either.

For those in the home dug-out at Recreation Park - sorry, the Indodrill Stadium - such petulance must have brought considerable satisfaction. It was proof of a job done well.

Alloa did produce some decent football and defended resolutely but, by their own admission, they went out to make life as unpleasant as possible for their guests on an artificial surface that harks back to the darkest days of early Astroturf.

There was no quarter asked or given with the tackling. One aerial challenge from Stephen Simmons at the end of the first half resulted in Nicky Clark walking off the field in considerable discomfort, holding his arm to protect a damaged shoulder.

A goal up through an excellent effort from Jonathan Tiffoney 10 minutes before the interval, the home side indulged in a little bit of timewasting in the second half. Again, there were no apologies offered. It was all part of the gameplan.

Rangers are now three points behind Hearts with a visit to Tyne­castle in November. Tomorrow brings a return trip to Falkirk, where they were comprehensively outplayed in the SPFL Championship before winning undeservedly in the Scottish Communities League Cup.

"It's going to be hard for them," said the Alloa centre-forward Greig Spence. "Every week, it's a cup final for the other team. We probably produced an extra 10 per cent that we might not have week in, week out.

"I don't think they enjoy Alloa … we kicked lumps out of them, there was a dry Astroturf pitch and we made it difficult. You've got to try and get any advantage you can. We don't want to let them get into a rhythm where their fans are behind them and they are battering down our goal. It was just about being cute. If we can make it as horrible for them as possible, it can put them off their game."

It certainly did. Rangers were poor in the first half and went behind when Tiffoney got on the end of a fine cross from Mark Docherty to send a glancing header into the right corner.

In fairness, the home side did spend the second period camped in their own half. It is what you would expect. Do not make the mistake of believing, however, that Rangers played particularly well. With Kris Boyd having missed several good chances again they placed too great an emphasis on lumping the ball long and hoping for a break. It finally came six minutes from time when David Templeton, who replaced the injured Lewis Macleod after 13 minutes, poked the ball home from close range after Lee McCulloch had seen two shots blocked by goalkeeper John Gibson.

Jon Daly, on for Clark, had the ball in the net in the closing seconds of normal time. According to some observers assistant referee Lorraine Clark got it wrong by raising her flag for offside, but defeat would have been cruel on the home side.

When the dust had settled, McCulloch, the Rangers captain, accused some team-mates of getting carried away by the praise that had come in the wake of a fine four-goal win over Raith Rovers and a cup victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, speaking of the need to learn from Alloa's judicious use of spoiling tactics.

"It's been happening for the last couple of years," said McCulloch. "Teams try to kill the game. We need to be better, sharper and able to break them down. Their goalkeeper was taking 30 seconds to release the ball and getting away with it. That was a bit disappointing. It is a draw, but draws are looked upon as defeat at a club such as Rangers. It feels like a defeat. We have learned our lesson and it won't happen again. I think a lot of the boys are maybe believing our own hype after the last couple of games and that's disappointing."

For Spence, he was left to rue a chance to make it 2-0 with 19 minutes to go. Tiffoney played him into space and he bustled past Black in the area to give himself a clear shot at goal - only to find the midriff of goalkeeper Steve Simonsen.

"I was knocked off balance a bit by Blackie," Spence said. "It was good defending from him, in a way. It was probably 'game over' had it gone in."