Annan star says Rangers boo boys gave giantkillers victory spur

  • Text size
  • Send this article to a friend
  • Print this article

Annan star says Rangers boo boys gave giantkillers victory spur

BRASSED-off Rangers fans drove on giantkillers Annan Athletic to pull off a historic win at Ibrox – by giving their own players pelters.

Rangers manager Ally McCoist saw his side crash to an embarrassing home defeat to Annan
Rangers manager Ally McCoist saw his side crash to an embarrassing home defeat to Annan

That was the claim made by Annan's goal hero Ally Love today as he looked back on the tiny Galabank club's amazing victory on Saturday.

The former St Mirren midfielder, a part-time factory worker, said: "Their fans are always on their backs. The expectations are ridiculous because of where Rangers have been in the past. It is a massive club even though they are in the Third Division now and there is a lot of pressure on their players.

"But to get clapped off the park by their fans at the end of the game summed up their fans for me. I thought they were brilliant."

Love netted the first goal in the Irn-Bru Third Division showdown with the Gers early on in the second half.

And a David Hopkirk goal shortly ensured that Jim Chapman's side won 2-1 and pulled off a massive upset against Ally McCoist's team.

He said: "We had been playing decent stuff in the build-up to the match without getting results.

"We went to Ibrox expecting to do well. But to do as well as we did, and create the chances that we did, was brilliant, just incredible.

"We could actually have done better. We had a couple of chances in their penalty box we didn't take. We could easily have been three or four up in the second half."

Annan have now played Rangers four times in the Third Division this season – drawing and losing once at Galabank and losing once and beating them at Ibrox on Saturday.

But this was only their second away win of the season – and it came against a team that has more than double their points haul.

Love, who is hoping his goal in the victory can help him win a move back into full-time football, said playing the Glasgow giants held no fear for them.

He said: "There is no point in going to Ibrox and being afraid of Rangers.

"Sure, their players are on far bigger wages and are full-time and we only train on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

"There are a lot of boys in the team who weren't used to playing against a team like Rangers or an arena like Ibrox.

"But you get used to it. Once you are on that park it is down to you to make the most of it.

"At the end of the day, they are the same as you, two arms, two legs."

Contextual targeting label: 
Sport

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on Evening Times on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.