5th Nov 1994 Rangers 3 Partick Thistle 0 (SFL Premier Division - game 12)

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matches:1994-95: ← 16game 1718 →

	Walter Smith	John Lambie	53y, 8m, 3d

		Rod McDonald; Albert Craig
		Alex Taylor; Roddy Grant

Brian Laudrup (0-1, 49 mins); Kenny Miller (0-2, 59 mins); Mark Hateley (0-3, 86 mins)

Fraser Wishart (Ian Durrant, 42 mins)		Kevin McKee (Chic Charnley, 70 mins); Rod McDonald (Isaac English, 71 mins)

	Andy Goram	Craig Nelson	23y, 5m, 8d
	Fraser Wishart	Kevin McKee	28y, 4m, 26d
	David Robertson	Stevie Pittman	27y, 3m, 18d
	Stuart McCall	Gregg Watson	24y, 1m, 15d
	Alan McLaren	Willie Jamieson	31y, 6m, 9d
	Basile Boli	Alan Dinnie	31y, 5m, 22d
	Pieter Huistra	Rod McDonald	27y, 7m, 16d
	Neil Murray	Albert Craig	32y, 10m, 2d
	Charlie Miller	Andy M. Gibson	25y, 9m, 3d
	Mark Hateley	Ian Cameron [i]	28y, 2m, 12d
	Brian Laudrup	Derek McWilliams	28y, 9m, 20d

			28y, 1m, 18d

	Colin Scott	Mark Cairns	25y, 1m, 11d
	Ian Durrant	Isaac English	22y, 11m, 24d
	Ally McCoist	Chic Charnley	31y, 4m, 25d

TTA report

Craig's shot was turned away for a corner (1). Both teams made good chances but it was 0-0 at h-t. Hesitancy by Nelson let Rangers in (looking off-side (49). Cameron's goal was disallowed (foul in the build-up) then a point-blank save denied Gibson. Goals 59 and 86 engineered by Laudrup flattered Rangers somewhat.

Media report

Scotland on Sunday, 6th November, 1994

THERE are days when Rangers meander towards the inevitable. Such episodes, however, do tend to stud seasons in which the championship is won. At the interval of this match the Ibrox players could probably have recalled little of a featureless first half. You wondered where a goal was ever going to come from. All the same, there was probably scant anxiety about such musings on the part of the Rangers fans. The team are back in that rhythm which ensures they need only stay on the pitch to score eventually. Partick Thistle were drubbed in the fullness of time, but had been stuffy and efficient until that first goal. There had even been a giddy suspicion that Brian Laudrup might be estranged from the title of man of the match. Kevin McKee was then marking him as meticulously as anyone in Scotland has so far managed. Still, it did not stop the Dane from putting Rangers ahead, in 49 minutes, and collecting his customary award at full-time. The goal came after Mark Hateley had sent him free on the right. Laudrup advanced and the Thistle goalkeeper, Craig Nelson, slipped to leave a space at the near post. From a narrowing angle the forward’s careful shot found the net. With that intervention the visitors’ composure evaporated. Earlier in the match they had so limited Rangers’ recognised threats that the excellent full-back Fraser Wishart, who shot against Andy Goram in 38 minutes, was the most effective attacker. Thistle could have led, when, after 31 minutes, Derek McWilliams was too firm with a header from Rod McDonald’s cross and lifted the ball over.

Even once they had begun to falter, Thistle might still have levelled the match. In 56 minutes Andy Gibson, given the chance to score from close range, was met by Goram’s point blank save. The result was determined in 59 minutes when Gregg Watson, pressured by Hateley, headed the ball up in the air. Possession fell to Charlie Miller and his shot ricocheted off Watson to find the corner of the net. There were no flukes or ambiguities about the third goal. Laudrup, four minutes from the end, beat Albert Craig several times before deciding to cross. The perfectly-flighted ball left Hateley to smash a header past Nelson from close range. That finish was the culmination of extended pressure. In the latter stages Rangers had begun to revel in their superiority. As space opened up, a surge and shot from the speedy David Roberston, in 75 minutes, demanded the best of Nelson’s many fine saves. In a superbly-refereed match of intermittent interest, though, there was often time to consider other matters.

Even when Ian Durrant was merely warming up as a substitute the crowd roared their approval of him. This was the vocal equivalent of a hug for a man who has just had a bruising experience at Goodison Park. Everton’s refusal to complete the deal after taking him on approval for a month must have been demeaning. Durrant said yesterday: “I knew in the first week that they didn’t really want me when I wasn’t in the team.” The Ibrox support don’t care what English folk think. Durrant will always have a place in their hearts even if he is currently without a role in the side. When he did come on against Thistle three minutes from the interval, replacing Wishart, who had picked up a hamstring injury, the chant from the stands confirmed that, in those parts, Durrant is still considered blue, white and adjectival dynamite. It is, however, Walter Smith’s job to determine just how much explosive power remains in a body which has suffered so much. Decisions will have to be made before long since Durrant’s contract expires at the end of this season. The manager is in no rush to enter negotiation either, saying last week that he would “wait and see.” There was little enough to be observed yesterday as the game’s intensity dropped after Rangers had scored so early in the second half. Should Smith wish to retain Durrant’s services there will be a signing-on fee and wages of at least their present level to be found. It is just one more delicate decision to be made in the task of revamping Rangers. Other aspects of the reconstruction work, however, are proving emphatically successful. The adhesive marking and abrupt tackling of Alan McLaren are already adding to Rangers’ security. Laudrup, even in a game where his contribution was spasmodic, remained a delight. It is with resigned disappointment, therefore, that Smith learned that Denmark will require him for a six-nation tournament in Saudi Arabia in January. Laudrup will accordingly miss a couple of League games. Note to Celtic fans: Sorry, but they don’t include the New Year Old Firm match.

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