Falkirk and Ayr savour cup glory

FALKIRK and Ayr United made it a midweek to remember in the Scottish Communities League Cup as they joined East Fife in the role of giant-killers. Falkirk knocked out holders Rangers 3-2 after Marc Millar’s dramatic last-gasp winner, while Ayr stunned Hearts by winning on penalties 4-1 after the sides finished 1-1 after extra time.

Falkirk had led 2-0 with only seven minutes remaining after Farid El Allagui grabbed a double for the First Division side, but Dorin Goian and Nikica Jelavic both netted for Rangers to seemingly rescue the tie.

But Mark Miller had the final say with an injury-time winner, when his free-kick somehow squirmed through the grasp of Neil Alexander, to send Steven Pressley’s side into today’s draw for the quarter-finals.

“I can’t praise my players enough – their application and desire,” said the emotional Falkirk manager afterwards. “Considering the gulf [between the sides], it was truly remarkable. It’s a win everyone should be proud of.”

Rangers, meanwhile, were brought crashing down to earth after their impressive 4-2 win over Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday. Manager Ally McCoist was left wondering how his team could go from the sublime to the ridiculous in just three days. “If we had started the game as we had finished it we would have won the game, but we didn’t,” said McCoist. “We put out a team that should have been good enough to win the game. We are very, very disappointed.

“Sometimes you get what you deserve and that’s what we got tonight. I don’t think there was complacency; there just wasn’t enough of the boys playing at the right tempo.”

Hearts had led through Scott Robinson’s 49th minute goal, but Gareth Wardlaw equalised 14 minutes later. After no further goals, Mark Roberts slammed home the winning spot-kick.

While Rangers and Hearts joined Aberdeen as the high-profile casualties of the third round, Celtic made no such mistake with a straightforward 2-0 victory over Ross County in Dingwall.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon praised his team’s attitude as they bounced quickly back from their Ibrox disappointment.

Celtic made an early breakthrough when striker Gary Hooper poked Joe Ledley’s headed knock-down into the County net in the 13th minute.

County’s Scott Boyd scored an own goal, doubling the visitors’ lead when he turned Anthony Stokes’ ball in the six-yard box into his own net five minutes after the break. The result meant the First Division club were unable to repeat their shock upset from April 2010, when they eliminated Celtic from the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

“It wasn’t easy,” said Lennon. “It never is coming to a First Division ground. The conditions were difficult to play in but I’m very pleased, it was very professional.

“The attitude and the manner we approached the game is what I wanted and the way we got the goal and the football we played at times in the final third was very good. I’m also very happy with the clean sheet, I think that was important and there were some very big individual performances out there tonight.”

Hooper, who gave his side the early advantage, admitted it had been a stern test in the heavy rain. He said: “In the conditions it was quite hard. It’s a hard place to come and I think we did well all over the pitch. It was very difficult as they were in your face but we got a good early goal and we started to keep the ball well.”