Boyd volleys past Graham Stack to give Rangers an early lead

By Andy Campbell

Hibernian fought back to claim a draw against Rangers in a highly entertaining match at Ibrox.

Kris Boyd volleyed Rangers into an early lead before Merouane Zemmama twice came close for the visitors.

Graham Stack made several important saves to keep Hibs in the match early in the second half.

Anthony Stokes, who had earlier had a goal disallowed for offside, levelled in the 63rd minute and both sides missed chances to grab a late winner.

Hibs' Derek Riordan and Boyd both shot wide in the opening stages before Rangers took the lead in the eighth minute.

Steven Whittaker's back-post cross was headed into the six-yard box by Kyle Lafferty and Boyd raced in to volley past goalkeeper Graham Stack.

A slack pass by Steven Naismith allowed Merouane Zemmama to drive at the Rangers defence and the Moroccan was only prevented from equalising by Allan McGregor's last-ditch save.

From the resulting corner, the ball was cleared to the edge of the box where Zemmama again shot at goal, this time hitting the post, and Stokes was flagged offside as he smashed the rebound into the net.

The aerial prowess of the Rangers attack was troubling the Hibs defence and Boyd nodded into the path of Kenny Miller, who headed just wide of Stack's goal.

Abdessalam Benjelloun was next to test McGregor's goal, with the forward turning and twisting on the edge of the box before seeing his shot claimed by the keeper.

Boyd almost grabbed his second when he evaded two defenders and drew a save from Stack and the Hibs goalkeeper then foiled Lafferty after the Northern Ireland international had capitalised on slackness in the visiting defence.

Stokes's curved shot was beaten away by McGregor, who then dived low to block David Wotherspoon's low drive.

Boyd thundered a shot towards the Hibs goal early in the second half, with Stack saving well, and Miller's header from Steven Smith's free-kick clipped the top of the crossbar.

Rangers continued to turn the screw and Steven Davis' disguised pass put Miller threw but the impressive Stack got a powerful hand behind the shot to divert it away from goal.

Sasa Papac saw a long-range drive tipped wide by the keeper before Boyd blazed over after escaping the challenge of Sol Bamba.

And Rangers were made to pay for those misses as Hibs gradually worked their way back into the match.

Zemmama drew another save from McGregor and, from the resulting corner, Riordan's curling effort was tipped away by the keeper.

Stokes was a persistent threat to the Rangers goal

Hibs levelled when Stokes controlled the ball stylishly on the edge of the box to evade both Whittaker and Papac and lifted the ball past McGregor on the volley.

Stokes then cut in from the right and forced McGregor into another save before, at the other end, Bamba headed narrowly wide of his own goal.

Stokes skinned David Weir at the byline to create a gilt-edged chance for substitute Colin Nish but the forward's shot was wide.

Boyd was booked for simulation in the box late on and substitute Nacho Novo had a goal chalked off for offside in injury time.

Rangers manager Walter Smith:

"It was a good game. In the end, we'll always look at a situation where we've missed a fair number of opportunities in the game.

"We're disappointed from that point of view that the boys didn't get a reward for that.

"We created by far the more opportunities to win the match but Hibs, after about 70 minutes, found themselves still in with an opportunity and they had a couple of chances to get a win nearer the end of the game.

"So, all credit to them for coming and playing in the manner in which they did.

"From our own point of view, it was a good performance, there's a bit of disappointment that we didn't manage to win it.

"The boys today, considering the problems that we're beginning to have injury-wise, played exceptionally well."

Hibernian manager John Hughes:

"It was a great game. The two sides were at each other, there were plenty of chances, plenty of goal-mouth stuff and all credit to the two teams.

"But, being the manager of Hibs, I'm so proud of my boys. We wanted to go and have a go at them and, on another day, we could've won the football match.

"We could've lost as well, Rangers missed some real good chances. The game was end to end.

"I think the boys showed a lot of character. Graham Stack was absolutely outstanding in goal. Liam Miller was possibly the pick of the bunch in midfield, it's a pleasure working with him.

"Right through it all, I think we played some good stuff, created chances, got our goal - it was a fantastic goal from Anthony Stokes. Allan McGregor had a lot of saves to make for Rangers.

"I'm really pleased that the boys came here and showed everything I asked of them and that we took something from the match."

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