Buddies hold Gers to replay

Smith's troops held

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Rangers and St Mirren have to do it all again in their Scottish Cup clash following a goalless draw on Saturday afternoon.

Walter Smith's side had the better of the play in the first half although The Buddies could well have caused an upset after piling the pressure late on.

The previous two meetings between the clubs this season had seen Rangers take the lead in the opening two minutes.

But there was to be no such luck this time for Lee McCulloch who connected with Madjid Bougherra's cross only to glance his header over as the holders carved out the first chance of the game.

At the other end, an Andy Dorman corner broke for Steven Thomson who picked out Michael Higdon at the back post but his header was blocked by an alert Allan McGregor.

Pressure

Saints were under pressure when Kevin Thomson embarked on a surging run before spraying the ball out to Steven Davis. He whipped into the path of Kyle Lafferty in the goalmouth but John Potter was able to intercept and allow goalkeeper Paul Gallacher to smother.

The home side had a decent chance when Dorman found Higdon and he unleashed from the edge of the box only for McGregor to gather comfortably.

Then it was the turn of Gallacher to come to the rescue, pushing a header from Davis to safety after he had been set up by a great ball from the right from Kirk Broadfoot.

Rangers could have been ahead after the restart when Bougherra burst through the middle before lofting into the path of Steven Naismith but Gallacher raced off his line to clear before the striker could unleash the shot.

The defender then came to the rescue twice in quick succession for Rangers. A Billy Mehmet cross from the right found Higdon and his close-range header was hooked to safety by Bougherra.

Best chance

He then cleared off the line when Higdon managed to lob McGregor after the Saints man was again set up by his strike partner for the best chance of the game so far.

Rangers clearly felt drastic action was needed to break down their stubborn hosts and Boyd and Miller were both thrown into the action with just over an hour gone.

As both sides desperately searched for the winner, Steven Whittaker went to ground under pressure from Potter but there appeared to be little in the incident and no penalty was forthcoming despite the howls of fury from the Rangers fans.

Craig Dargo was then introduced for Saints and immediately forced McGregor into action to block at the near post, before the goalkeeper touched a Hugh Murray shot over the crossbar at full stretch.

McGregor was called into action again to block a stinging effort from Mehmet but the offside flag was raised anyway as the game ended without any goals.