DAVIE COOPER sealed a dream move to his boyhood heroes Rangers - by running rings around John Greig in a League Cup quarter-final that took FOUR GAMES to decide.

Clydebank youngster Cooper squared up to the side he had grown up cheering on from the Ibrox terraces in the last-eight cup-tie back in 1976.

The slight 20-year-old winger found himself in direct opposition to legendary Light Blues defender Greig in the first game.

It was a daunting prospect for an apprentice printer who was used to playing part-time opponents in the lower leagues with the Kilbowie club.

However, Cooper tormented the European Cup-Winners' Cup-winning captain throughout that 90 minutes at Ibrox. And he capped an inspired display when he netted a late equaliser - a long-range strike with his RIGHT FOOT - to earn the 'Bankies a 3-3 draw.

It was exactly the same story in the THREE replays between the two rivals before the Glasgow giants edged into the semi-finals with a 2-1 win at Firhill.

Sport Times columnist Derek Johnstone played in the first two of those matches and remembers the precocious kid giving his revered team-mate a tough time.

"Coop gave Greigy water on the brain in those four games!" he said. "They were probably the reason Rangers signed him.

"Greigy played at left-back and Coop tore him apart in all four games. He was absolutely magnificent. It was the first time I had really looked at this lad that people were talking about.

"At that time, you had a lot of good ball players who could really take on defenders and you never really looked down the divisions to find them.

"But you could see this lad was special. He was the most one-footed player since Jim Baxter. But what a left peg he had! He just loved taking on people. He didn't have any pace. He just relied on his ability to beat full-backs."

Johnstone added: "I think those cup games were when he came to the fore. I seem to recall him picking up the Man of the Match award in all four games. He scored in three of them. It took us four attempts to beat them. We played them at Ibrox and then again at Kilbowie and then at Ibrox once again and it was still stalemate.

"We had to play them a fourth time at a neutral venue, Firhill. We eventually beat them 2-1. That was the first time I had seen Davie Cooper. It was no surprise when we signed him the following year.

"I think they paid £100,000 for him. That was a lot of money in those days, but it proved to be well worth it."