The Bhoys Fall Short!

Referee 'Dodgy' Dougal And A Goal From Kevin 'Lazarus' Thomson Send Rangers Six Points Clear

By Tony Quinn

A goal from Kevin Thomson on Saturday moved Rangers six points clear of Celtic in the SPL race with a game in hand. The former Hibs midfielder exchanged passes with Jean-Claude Darcheville before shooting past Artur Boruc in the final minute of the first half. The victory at Ibrox means Rangers have 74 points from 29 games and Celtic has 68 from 30 with only eight games to go. Thomson was carried off the field in the 76th minute after diving over the leg of Celtic's Georgios Samaras and 'injuring' himself.

After the game Gordon Strachan did not appear to be too discouraged. "The first half gave me great encouragement and I couldn't see a goal coming," he said. "They got the goal which energized them for 10 or 15 minutes at the start of the second half. We should have defended that goal a bit better, that was too easy. We were hugely disappointed but I went away thinking I have a lot of good stuff to work with here. I think we just need to tidy up one or two things then we will eventually get back to being a good side."

Celtic players wore black armbands against Rangers as a mark of respect for former player, John Cushley, who died last week. John, who played 41 times for the Hoops between 1963-67, and who later returned as the club's Education & Welfare Officer, passed away on Monday, March 24 at the age of 65 following a brave fight against Motor Neurone Disease.

After the game an assault by loyalists in Belfast left a Celtic fan fighting for his life. The supporter was beaten by a mob of up to 70 Linfield fans returning from the Irish Cup semi-final clash with Cliftonville earlier in the day. Around 3.30pm a bus full of Linfield supporters rushed towards Castle Street in the city center - a mainly nationalist area. The mob attempted to gain access to the Belfast Bar, but were denied entry. They then attacked a man wearing a Celtic shirt in Belfast's King Street. A spokesman for the PSNI confirmed they had to deal with serious disturbances and that one man had had his throat cut.

Celtic have responded to press speculation that the club are going on a Japanese tour at the end of the SPL season to 'kill off' any plans for an extension to the season. A club spokesperson said: "Following media speculation today, Celtic would like to confirm that it has not finalized any plans for an end-of-season tour. Celtic have been considering a possible invitation to tour Japan and this will be looked at in further detail over the next few weeks, but no final decision has yet been taken. Clearly, with Celtic now enjoying great support in Japan, this is something which the club needs to consider, as it did previously when we made a similar visit."

The SFA are standing by their assertion that Barry Robson was unfit to play for Scotland against Croatia at Hampden last Wednesday night. The Celtic midfielder was one of seven withdrawals from the squad for George Burley's first match in charge as national team boss which ended in a 1-1 draw. Robson was sent home with a knee injury picked up in the early stages of the Hoops' 3-0 SPL win over Gretna at Almondvale last weekend. According to one report, Celtic are set to demand an explanation from the SFA for Robson's withdrawal, claiming the former Dundee United player refuted the diagnosis and had wanted to stay in the Scotland camp.

Motherwell's SPL clash with Celtic at Fir Park has been rearranged for a third time and is now due to take place on Sunday, April 13 with a 9am EST kick-off. The original January 6 fixture, postponed following the death of Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell at the end of December, was initially rescheduled for January 30 but that was called off less than an hour before the evening kick-off due to a waterlogged pitch. The match was then rescheduled for Saturday, March 15 but was called off three hours before the lunchtime kick-off when the troublesome Fir Park pitch was again saturated by heavy rain.