It's Miller time: Match winner Kenny Miller celebrates in front of a jubilant Rangers support. Pic: ©SNS Group
Co-operative Insurance Cup match winner Kenny Miller was respectful of opponents St Mirren after they pushed Rangers all the way in the Hampden final. Miller headed home substitute Steven Naismith’s pinpoint cross seven minutes from time to complete a smash-and-grab win for the Ibrox club.
The Buddies looked as though they had their name on the cup as they controlled possession throughout and then saw Rangers pair Kevin Thomson and Danny Wilson dismissed in the second half.
But as they pushed hard for their own match winning goal, a swift Rangers counter, which was finished off by Miller’s placed header, broke the hearts of the Paisley travelling contingent.
"We've had six games against them [St Mirren] now and every one of them has been tough,” Miller admitted after lifting the trophy for the first time in his career. "We were just lucky to get the goal at the end there."
Asked if he thought the League Cup could be the first of a treble-winning season, Miller said: "Let's hope so!"
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David Weir was the victorious captain as Rangers picked up their 26th win in the competition, cementing their place as the team which have won the trophy on the most occasions.
Weir was given a hard time by lively St Mirren forward pairing Michael Higdon and Billy Mehmet but the Buddies’ lack of a cutting edge failed to make the 39-year-old pay and he admitted his team were lucky to emerge as winners.
"We were very fortunate to win today,” said Weir. "In the first half, we were as poor as we've been all season.
The orderings off of Thomson and Wilson only seemed to serve to galvanise Rangers and Weir agreed that their loss in numbers spurred them on. He added: "I thought we got better when we went down to nine men."
