Dunfermline 0 Rangers 1

Sunday, 21st Jan 2007

A Charlie Adam goal in ninth minute separated the teams but Pars impress in defeat

For this very important SPL match against Rangers, Stephen Simmons was out injured, Darren Young out through suspension, Dorus de Vries returned in goal in place of Roddy McKenzie, Phil McGuire, Jim Hamilton and Gary Mason all were back following suspension meaning Owen Morrison dropped out. Bobby Ryan made his home debut but there was no room for new boy Adam Hammill from Liverpool so he was on the bench. Rangers brought in new signing David Weir and Nacho Novo replaced Dado Prso, otherwise no changes from the side that trounced Dundee United in their last match.

It was Dunfermline who kicked off through Stevie Crawford and Gary Mason, attacking the goal at the Cowdenbeath end. There was a fright for the Pars after just 75 seconds when Nacho Novo turned McGuire on the top of the box and de Vries had to come out and pull off a good save to keep it goalless. Despite that the Pars started pretty well with Greg Ross and Bobby Ryan enjoying possession and making an impression.

Hamilton`s fifth minute shot was deflected passed for a corner on the left and when Jim O`Brien whipped the ball across the goalmouth, Allan McGregor failed to connect and was a shade lucky to see the ball slip out beyond his left hand post. Jim Hamilton created the next chance three minutes later setting up Crawford for a shot from 20 yards that McGregor was at full stretch to save.

Play switched rapidly to the other end of the park and a strong run from Novo down the right saw him reach the byeline. Having left Scott Wilson in his wake, he then to sent a fine ball through the Dunfermline six yard box for Charlie ADAM to slot in at the far post. Dorus de Vries had little chance of saving as Greg Shields crashed into him on the goal line.

Another swift move down the right after quarter of an hour took Chris Burke passed two players to again pick out Adam in the box and his header down dropped for Ferguson to blast on target from 16 yards and de Vries had to pull off another great save. For Dunfermline, Ryan swung an inviting ball into the Rangers penalty box but Mason`s diving header went directly to McGregor.

At just one goal behind Stephen Kenny`s men continued to compete and the match was a close contest as the half progressed. In 28th minute Ross sent the ball right to O`Brien who had just switched sides with Ryan and the on loan Celt knocked a good delivery into the Gers box but none of the strikeforce could get near.

Three minutes later Hutton won the ball in midfield and a pass to Adam was placed into the path of Novo and he kept de Vries busy with another sharp shot on target from 20 yards out. A couple of defensive clearances; one from Morrison and then from Wilson set up something for the midfield but the chance that fell for Ross caught him in two minds. Instead of laying off to Hamilton he chose to shoot but to little effect.

A Scott Morrison free kick, awarded when Ferguson fouled Hamilton in the 42nd minute, was lofted deep into the Rangers box. Hamilton headed the ball across the box and Crawford drove the ball on target from six yards. The ball broke off the elbow of Karl Svensson as he turned his back on the shot, no penalty and from the corner Mason drove the ball into a ruck of defenders.

After losing the early goal Dunfermline gave Rangers as good as they got. Trailing by only goal there was plenty to play for in the second half.

Half Time: Dunfermline 0 Rangers 1

Young Adam Hammill was introduced for the second half taking the place of Ryan. With virtually his first touch the English U19 internationalist took on his man but was closed out on the edge of the box.

Rangers first opportunity of the second period came in 49th minute when Novo sprung the offside trap but Wilson got back to make a critical challenge on Adam as he looked to square the ball for Novo to score. Hemdani and Ferguson then combined to let the latter thrash a shot at de Vries but he beat it away.

Adam`s free kick in from the right was then deflected behind by Wilson as Boyd rushed in to convert and although de Vries held from the corner the Pars were certainly under intense pressure just ten minutes into the half. de Vries pulled off a wonderful one handed clearance when it looked as though Novo had chipped him from the right and then Kris Boyd headed narrowly wide of the left goalpost.

Adam Hamill demonstrated the touches that had obviously made Stephen Kenny keen to have him at East End Park but Dunfermline just could not make use of the impressive service. In 72 minutes Crawford turned provider for Hammill but Hutton blocked the shot at the top of his box.

Three minutes later Boyd looked offside as he ran in to fire at goal but De Vries pulled off another breathtaking save and Adam unbelievably shot wide right. Hutton broke through in 80th minute and Ferguson swept the ball across the face of de Vries` goal and it looked all over until Shields slipped in to get a crucial connection.

With Scott Muirhead on for O`Brien, Hammill was moved to the right and he fought off the challenge of Ian Murray to swing in a great ball to the far post but the in rushing Hamilton somehow managed to head the glorious 82nd minute chance over the crossbar.

In 89 minutes McGregor and McGuire went for a Scott Morrison free kick swung in high over from the right, the break of the ball left Muirhead with a shot at goal from just 8 yards but the block fell to Hamilton and his shot was desperately deflected away. Another chance was to come Jim McIntyre`s way but it was to be the seventh successive league match without a Pars goal.

No joy for the Pars yet again. They looked a very good side at times in this match, surely an SPL victory is just around the corner.

DUNFERMLINE: Dorus de Vries; Greg Shields (c), Phil McGuire, Scott Wilson, Scott Morrison; Bobby Ryan (Adam Hammill HT), Greg Ross Jim McIntyre 77), Gary Mason, Jim O`Brien (Scott Muirhead 77); Stevie Crawford, Jim Hamilton.
SUBS NOT USED: Jamie McCunnie, Calum Woods, Iain Williamson,Roddy McKenzie (GK)
YELLOW CARD: McGuire (44), Ross (59), Hamilton (59), O`Brien (76)

RANGERS: Allan McGregor; Alan Hutton, David Weir, Karl Svensson, Ian Murray; Chris Burke (Thomas Buffel 70), Barry Ferguson (c), Brahim Hemdani, Charlie Adam, Nacho Novo (Filip Sebo 92), Kris Boyd
SUBS NOT USED: Sasa Papac, Gavin Rae, Alan Lowing, Steven Lennon, Stefan Klos (GK)
SCORERS: Adam (9)
YELLOW CARD: Ferguson (42), Novo (63)

REFEREE: John Underhill
WEATHER: Rain 4°C
ATTENDANCE 7868

NEXT MATCH: SPL (away) v Dundee United, Saturday 27th January 2007

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Preview Rangers

Wednesday, 17th Jan 2007

Could it be another famous Pars victory? In search of the first back to back victories over Rangers since 1967.

Ticket Info: Dunfermline v Rangers 21/01/07

Hospitality Deals

Rangers return to East End Park on Sunday for the fourth time this season. One win, one draw and one defeat so far but the Pars solitary league win from the twenty six  meetings in Fife is not a great record.

Premier League v Rangers (Home)
Pld	W	D	L	F	A
26	1	6	19	20	63

Following the Fifers 3-2 Cup win over Rangers, it has been said by many at East End Park that they would rather have had three SPL points than a place in the Fourth Round of the Tennent`s Scottish Cup.  Well, now comes the chance to achieve both.  Dunfermline can take confidence and belief from the events of a week past Sunday but Rangers will be very wary of another humiliation at the hands of the SPL`s bottom club!

Manager Stephen Kenny is being very positive about Sunday`s match:-

"I feel we had a good win against Rangers 3-2, and in the last two league games we came close to teams.  We had a goal disallowed against Hearts late in the game and against Falkirk we conceded a goal in the ninetieth minute that clearly looked offside.  These are narrow margins against two teams in the top six and we are not that far away.

"We had players missing last week but we will have a good few bodies back this week. We are not looking to make too many excuses, we have to eliminate excuses.  Rangers are coming here this week, we beat them last week but we know that it will be a tough game. We must try and take the initiative."

Dunfermline	Rangers
Current League Position
12	2
Last 6-Match Form
DLLLWL	WLDWLW
Home/Away Record
P12, W3, D2, L7	P12, W5, D2, L5
Leading Scorers
S Crawford (4)	K Boyd (9)

Could it be another famous Pars victory? Remarkably, despite recording only 12 wins in 120 meetings, Dunfermline have recorded back to back victories over Rangers before, back in 1966/67 when they did the double over the Gers winning both home and away.

Milestones Rangers (Home)
Last League Victory	14/12/03	2-0	SPL
Last League Defeat	17/04/05	0-1	SPL
Best League Victory	14/04/65	3-1	Div One*
Worst League Defeat	04/10/58 11/08/34	1-7	Div One*
*Pre league reconstruction

The last dozen meetings between the two teams have seen ten Dunfermline defeats, one win and one draw.

Last Twelve League Matches v Rangers
Date	H/A	F-A	Scorers
11/11/06	A	0-2	[0-1] Boyd, [0-2] Smith
13/08/06	H	1-1	[0-1] Buffel, [1-1] O Morrison
25/03/06	A	0-1	[0-1] Kyrgiakos
26/12/05	H	3-3	[1-0] Tod, [1-1] Lovenkrands, [2-1] Burchill, [2-2] Lovenkrands, [2-3] Burke, [3-3] Darren Young
01/10/05	A	1-5	[0-1] Buffel, [0-2] Prso, [1-2] Hunt, [1-3] Nieto, [1-4] Lovenkrands, [1-5] McCormack
17/04/05	H	0-1	[0-1] Prso
15/01/05	A	0-3	[0-1] Thompson, [0-2] Andrews, [0-3] Rae
27/10/04	H	1-2	[1-0] Brewster, [1-1] Boumsong, [1-2] Novo
16/05/04	H	2-3	[1-0] Dempsey; [1-1] Ricksen; [1-2] Burke; [1-3]  McCormack; [2-3] Dempsey
23/03/04	A	1-4	[0-1] Hutton, [0-2] Lovenkrands, [1-2] Tod, [1-3] R de Boer, [1-4] Mols
14/12/03	H	2-0	[1-0] Crawford, [2-0] Vanoli (og)
13/09/03	A	0-4	[0-1]Thompson, [0-2] Mols, [0-3] Arveladze, [0-4] Capucho

Neither club can say their form has been consistent although Dunfermline would love to be in the position that Rangers results have taken them.

Recent Form
Dunfermline Home	W Rangers 3-2	L Hearts 0-1	L Motherwell 0-2	D Inverness CT 0-0	L Celtic 0-2
Rangers Away	L Dunfermline 2-3	W Motherwell 1-0	L Inverness CT 1-2	W Aberdeen 2-1	L Falkirk 0-1

Darren Young will not be available for this match nor the next against Dundee United as he sits out a two match suspension.

DUNFERMLINE last time out (v Falkirk): Roddy McKenzie; Greg Ross (Iain Williamson 92), Greg Shields (c), Scott Wilson (Jamie McCunnie 42), Scott Morrison; Bobby Ryan, Stephen Simmons, Darren Young, Owen Morrison (Frederic Daquin HT); Stevie Crawford, Jim O`Brien,.
SUBS NOT USED: Dorus de Vries (GK), Nick Phinn, Calum Woods, Souleymane Bamba,
YELLOW CARDS: Scott Morrison (21), Young (64), Simmons (71), Crawford (79)

RANGERS last time out (v Dundee United):- Allan McGregor; Alan Hutton, Brahim Hemdani, Karl Svensson, Ian Murray; Chris Burke (Filip Sebo 74), Barry Ferguson, Jeremy Clement, Charlie Adam, Dado Prso (Nacho Novo 41), Kris Boyd
SUBS NOT USED: Stefan Klos, Papac, Gavin Rae, Alan Lowing, Steven Lennon
YELLOW CARD: Svensson

Remember it`s a 2.00pm kick off and the game is all ticket. 
Referee will be John Underhill.

Come on ye Pars!

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