Rangers 1 Alloa 1

Rangers failed miserably to put pressure on Championship leaders Hearts as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Alloa at Ibrox. Kris Boyd and David Templeton missed great chances for the Light Blues in an otherwise limp first-half which ended with the home side being booed off. Ally McCoist's side continued to struggle after the break but it looked like they would escape with three points when skipper Lee McCulloch scored in the 78th minute following a Lewis Macleod corner. However, Liam Buchanan dramatically levelled six minutes later and although the second-placed Light Blues narrowed the gap behind Hearts to three points the Gorgie side have the chance to increase their advantage when they play Falkirk later in the day. Rangers were boosted with the inclusion of Macleod who broke off from Scotland duty to take his place in the Gers midfield. The 20-year-old was called up for the first time to the senior squad by Gordon Strachan for the European Championship qualifying clash with Republic of Ireland at Celtic Park on Friday night and the friendly against England at the same venue. Strachan did not involve Macleod in the 1-0 win over the Irish allowing him to play against the Wasps but he was as uninspiring as his team mates in the dreadfully dull early stages. Midfielder Nicky Law did have the ball in the net after six minutes but looked up to see the flag being waved for offside. Fellow midfielder Ian Black found himself in referee Greg Aitken's book two minutes later for a foul on Mark Docherty on the halfway line. McCoist was raging when the official then allowed Alloa's Jonathan Tiffoney to boot the ball away after conceding a free-kick without taking any action. In between those two incidents, Michael Doyle forced Rangers keeper Steve Simonsen into a decent save at the expense of a fruitless corner after he was allowed to run 40 yards before despatching his shot from the edge of the box. The home side could not get going. In the 17th minute, however, Boyd should have opened the scoring when a Law through ball landed at his feet 14 yards from goal but the Ibrox striker blasted his shot straight at Alloa keeper Craig McDowall. Just after the half-hour mark, following good work by Macleod in midfield, Templeton missed a sitter when he headed Richard Foster's cross on the run from the right past the post from the centre of the goals. Moments later, Simonsen was called into action again to divert Kevin Cawley's 25-yard shot round the post, and the half-time whistle allowed the home fans the chance to vent some pent-up frustration. McCoist's side started the second-half with more of a tempo, Boyd diverting a driven cross from Macleod past the post with his head before the young playmaker drew a good save from McDowall with a drive from outside the penalty area. However, the home side soon regressed and in the 59th minute McCoist replaced the ineffective Boyd with Irish striker Jon Daly before the injured Foster made way for Sebastien Faure. There was little improvement but growing disgruntlement from the home fans was put aside when, from Macleod's corner, the ball landed at McCulloch who hooked it into the net from eight yards. Instead of kicking on, though, Rangers found themselves pegged back six minutes later when Simonsen parried a drive from Cawley out to Buchanan who lashed it high into the net from close range. Nicky Clark was immediately brought on for Templeton with McCoist's last throw of the dice but although there was the expected late flurry, with Faure firing over in stoppage time from close range, there was to be no late goal to prevent the home side being jeered at the final whistle.