Just champion: Rangers' players celebrate their Co-operative Insurance Cup success. Pic: ©SNS Group
Rangers overcame a battering from St Mirren and two red cards to win the 2010 Co-operative Insurance Cup with a 1-0 win at Hampden. Kenny Miller's goal on the counter attack seven minutes from time gave his team a victory which looked increasingly unlikely as the game wore on.
The Paisley side controlled large parts of the cup final and their hopes were raised twice after red cards for Kevin Thomson and Danny Wilson in the second half gave them the numerical advantage.
Despite their dominance, the Buddies passed up a number of opportunities to etch their name on the trophy and their desperation to get the goal their endeavour deserved opened the door for Rangers, who are chasing a domestic treble, to hit them with a swift counter attack to win the match.
Steven Naismith, on just five minutes earlier, capitalised on St Mirren's growing urgency by surging clear down the right on the counter before finding Kenny Miller unmarked on the penalty spot.
The Scotland striker, who went into the match having never tasted success in the Co-operative Insurance Cup, found the bottom left hand corner of Paul Gallacher's net with a precise header to break St Mirren hearts.
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St Mirren took charge of the game from early on and surged tirelessly at the Rangers goal. Billy Mehmet was first to test out the Rangers backline of 39-year-old David Weir and 18-year-old Danny Wilson, capitalising on Weir's slip to get a shot in at goal down the left.
Wilson got across to make a perfectly timed block tackle but the ball looped to the back post, where Sasa Papac was on hand to head the ball away from under his own crossbar with Hugh Murray lurking.
The underdogs continued to enjoy some good possession and found space on the flanks as wing-backs Jack Ross and Carey got forward, but they could not find a telling ball.
Miller tried to take the most of a brief respite in the Saints' pressure when he was played in on goal by Steven Whittaker 11 minutes before the interval. His incisive run took him through the heart of the opposition's defence but he could only scoop his left foot effort harmlessly over the bar with Gallacher's goal gaping.
St Mirren then should have had the lead they deserved five minutes before the interval when Higdon again got the better of Weir on the left hand side. The striker got to the byline before delivering a perfectly timed cross to Thomson 10 yards from goal.
The Buddies midfielder caught the ball on the half-volley as sweet as possible and the ball was netbound before Alexander sprinted across his line to pull of a breathtaking save when it looked as if the team in black and white had opened the scoring.
David Barron then let fly from fully 35 yards from the resulting corner but his dipping shot could only clip the top of the bar and fly over.
Steven Davis, who was a doubt pre-match because of a stomach bug and was anonymous in the first 45, was replaced by Maurice Edu at the break as Rangers attempted to push themselves higher up the park and closer to the St Mirren goal.
They started to carve out some opportunities, with Papac and Miller both creating openings, but still looked on the ropes before the game looked to have swung even more dramatically in the Saints' favour in the 53rd minute.
After a succession of tasty tackles from both teams, Kevin Thomson was shown a straight red card for a lunging tackle on namesake Steven Thomson on the touchline.
Sensing the opportunity, Buddies boss Gus MacPherson threw on attacking midfielder Andy Dorman for Hugh Murray as they tried to make their advantage count.
That difference in numbers grew even greater in the 71st minute when Dorman's fellow substitute, Craig Dargo, was hauled back on the edge of the area by Danny Wilson.
Referee Craig Thomson adjudged that Wilson had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity and the young defender followed his team-mate down the tunnel, in what looked to be a more controversial decision than the one for Thomson's earlier dismissal.
St Mirren huffed and puffed for the match winning goal but a timely substitution by Walter Smith knocked all the momentum out of them. The ineffectual Boyd was replaced by Steven Naismith with 11 minutes remaining and in the 83rd minute, in a Rangers breakaway, the former Kilmarnock winger curled a perfect cross on to the head of Miller, who rose to glance his header past Gallacher.
The Buddies threw everything they had in the closing minutes but came up against a solid wall of blue jerseys and were left to ponder what should have been, as they headed back to Paisley having passed up the biggest opportunity in years to become the first side since Raith Rovers in 1994/95 to defeat an Old Firm team in a Co-operative Insurance Cup final.
