THE JOY OF SIX

AT least, after this result, we can anticipate a rare championship going to the wire. A strangely muted Old Firm match ended with a 3-2 win for the home side at Ibrox, a result which levers Rangers two points ahead of Celtic at the top of the Premierleague.

It was a game of several goals, including the first in an Old Firm record of only 19 seconds but, playing on a Saturday in the league for the first time in four years, this was a tepid encounter between Scotland's top two sides.

Neither played remotely to the standard of which they are capable, but Alex McLeish - who has not lost to Martion O'Neill's Celtic in six matches - and his players won't be worrying much about that this morning.

The atmosphere inside the ground was subdued, as if the "secret shame" remarks by the First Minister, Jack McConnell, had seeped into the collective consciousness.

If only, but the game itself passed without incident, whatever mayhem was visited on Glasgow and its hard-pressed hospitals last night.

Rangers, despite losing that strange early goal, went on to build a 3-1 lead after 39 minutes, and for all Celtic's huffing and puffing in the second half it was a lead which never looked, to use a politically incorrect word, like being surrendered.

Perversely, the home side had looked disorganised while building that advantage, but then went on to hold the lead comfortably despite Celtic's expected second-half onslaught which yielded a goal for John Hartson on the hour.

The main talking point, apart from Martin O'Neill's spat with a radio reporter when asked why he hadn't introduced Paul Lambert into the proceedings, was the speed of the first goal - the quickest in 114 years, apparently - scored by Chris Sutton.

O'Neill angrily walked away from the question, but had composed himself by the time it came to discuss the game at his press conference.

He, likeMcLeish, took positives from the game which weren't immediately apparent to those who had neutrally watched the 90 minutes.

"I thought the second half was terrific," he said, stretching credibility somewhat.

McLeish produced an expansive smile to signal his pleasure.

"Character" is a word fondly employed by Rangers managers, and McLeish used it yet again to describe his team's fightback from the shock of Sutton's early goal.

That strike was countered by quick goals from Craig Moore, Ronald de Boer and Michael Mols, giving Rangers their first win over Celtic in a league match for more than two years. Before walking across the Clyde, McLeish shared his thoughts on the victory.

"That's my most satisfying win [over Celtic] because it's happening now," he reported. "But the next one, if we win that as well, will be the most satisfying, because you can't look back."

Perhaps cottoning on to the fad for public ghoulishness, McLeish said there would be no "autopsy" over the concession of Celtic's first goal.

That will console Lorenzo Amoruso, who allowed Hartson to easily pass him before delivering the cross from which Sutton scored.

The Rangers manager pointed out his side had achieved their task. "It's not going to be a cake walk for us to stay on top of the league," he said. "We're two points clear and we achieved the objective at the start of the game which was to finish it top of the league. The players deserve enormous credit for their performance today.

"The character of the team came to the fore. There was a wee aberration in the first goal but they showed they're big players by reacting. That's what good players are all about - they make a mistake and then come back stronger."

Speaking about his own position, he remarked: "If you have some success against Celtic you stamp your mark on the club."

McLeish admitted his side had defended too deeply in the second half, but deservedly praised the performance of De Boer, who showed his class on the ball.

Rather in keeping with the tenor of the match, one of the most significant developments happened by accident. Maurice Ross hirpled off in only the 20th minute with a leg injury, and was replaced by Bob Malcolm.

Instead of shuffling into defence, Malcolm took up a position shadowing Sutton, a move which negated Celtic's early advantage.

Even so, it was a scarcely deserved feat for Rangers to score three times in just 24 minutes, and one which must cause O'Neill concern ahead of the Celta Viga Uefa Cup second-leg match on Thursday.

His three-man defence was too easily turned by the far from impressive Rangers attack, while out on the flanks neither Didier Agathe or Steve Guppy impressed in attack or defence.

O'Neill, who told the BBC reporter he had asked a daft question when queried about Lambert's non-appearance, was nevertheless magnanimous in defeat later.

"It was a great start for us, without a doubt, a goal in our first attack, but Rangers got back into it very, very quickly," he said. "Then we had the misfortune to hit the post and within a couple of minutes Rangers made it 2-1.

"The third goal obviously made it difficult for us, but we were terrific in the second half. I'm disappointed, but far from down. If we could play like that for the remainder of the season I will be very satisfied.

"Stefan Klos made two breathtaking saves from John Hartson and Alan Thompson and it's not too often at Ibrox that the home goalkeeper gets the man of the match award.

"The bottom line is we got beaten in the game, but there are 19 games to go, including two against Rangers. We won't give up without a fight, I can assure you of that."

Fighting words, but the jinx of McLeish will continue to worry Celtic and O'Neill. For the rest of us, there is, mercifully, Premierleague life after Christmas.

lYesterday's matches - Pages 2-7

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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