SCOTTISH CUP/Fifth Round - Dunfermline ... 1 Rangers ... 1: Rangers had captain Barry Ferguson sent off in a stormy Scottish Cup quarter-final at East End Park yesterday.
David Grondin had fired the home side in front midway through the first half, but Claudio Caniggia's equaliser dampened the Pars' hopes of a first win over Rangers since 1988 and the two sides will have to do battle all over again in an Ibrox replay.
Ferguson was dismissed near the end for kicking Dunfermline substitute Noel Hunt. The pair had already clashed after the Irishman reacted angrily to a foul by Craig Moore.
Ferguson was shown a straight red so will miss the next game, a league clash with Partick, although he could also miss the replay if the penalty points he will receive take him over the threshold.
"He misses the next game so that's done and dusted, there's nothing we can do about that," Rangers manager Alex McLeish said afterwards.
"He made the gesture and that was enough. I'm not sure there was any contact, but the gesture was enough for the referee to take action."
Pars boss Jimmy Calderwood admitted he had already been planning his replay tactics against a Ferguson-less Rangers.
On being told this was not necessarily the scenario he replied: "He got a straight one? Thanks very much, you've just burst my bubble. You've just done me. Oh well. I still don't know the rules."
DUNFERMLINE: Stillie, MacPherson, Scott Wilson, McGarty, Nicholson (Hunt 52), Mason, Brannan, McGroarty, Grondin (Kilgannon 74), Crawford, Brewster. Subs Not Used: Ruitenbeek, Dair, Walker. Booked: Hunt, Brannan. Goal: Grondin 23.
RANGERS: Klos, Moore, Konterman, Muscat, Ricksen, Ferguson, Arteta, McCann (Arveladze 74), Caniggia, de Boer, Malcolm. Subs Not Used: McGregor, Thompson, Ross, Eggen. Sent Off: Ferguson (89). Booked: Ricksen, Muscat, Malcolm, Moore. Goal: Caniggia 31.
Referee: J Underhill (Scotland).
