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Scottish roundup Ferguson saves Rangers from defeat in Scottish Cup
DINGWALL, Scotland (Reuters) -- Rangers captain Barry Ferguson rescued the Scottish Cup holders with the goal that beat first division Ross County 3-2 on Sunday and put his side into the quarter-finals. The Scotland midfielder's 63rd minute strike prevented Rangers from being held by the club from the Highlands who were seeking to emulate near neighbors Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who knocked Celtic out last season. Ross County had come back from 2-0 down after Tore Andre Flo's double put Rangers in command within 17 minutes of the start of the fourth-round tie. Norwegian international Flo scored with a right-foot shot after four minutes, from Kenny Miller's set-up, and then scored with an identical shot 13 minutes later after Neil McCann's great work. But local fans in the 6,000 crowd in Dingwall, a small town 350 kilometers north of Glasgow, were lifted when Ross County striker Alex Bone pulled a goal back after 20 minutes. Bone struck again on 53 minutes, but County's joy was cut short when a clever pass from Claudio Reyna set up Ferguson to clip the winner over goalkeeper Nicky Walker. Even so, it took a last-minute goal-line clearance from Rangers defender Scott Wilson to deny a replay. County manager Neale Cooper said: "When we went two goals down, I feared a rout. But we gave Rangers real problems and when we got it back to 2-2, I thought we were then denied a clear penalty." Rangers manager Dick Advocaat said: "We gave away cheap goals. It became 2-2 out of nothing, but I give all credit to Ross County - they tried everything. "But the quality of Flo was amazing. You saw he could create goals out of nothing." In the draw for the quarterfinals, Rangers are away to Dundee United, while Dunfermline or Celtic will meet Hearts or Dundee. Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Kilmarnock will face Hibernian, and Livingston or Aberdeen will host Peterhead.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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