Rangers in Last Minute Penalty Shocker!

Picture the scene...

A tense game comes right down to the wire. Locked at one goal each, with only minutes to play, footballing purists everywhere are hoping that the game will be decided by a moment of skill; a wonder-strike from thirty yards into the top corner, perhaps, or a Maradona-like waltz through an entire team, if we're very lucky.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but this is the SPL, and not exactly the stuff that football purists dream of.

Rangers, having had a man sent off early in the game, and having fallen behind after their goalkeeper, McGregor, doing little to justify his manager's faith, managed to fluff what can only be described as a pass-back from a Hearts forward into his net, pull a goal back through McCulloch. The game remains tight, with real chances few and far between.

Then the inevitable happens - a Rangers player through on goal takes a tumble. A crowd is silenced, awaiting the decision of the man in black. This silence is not, though, one of suspense, or that of a person waiting for a decision. It is one borne out of the Scottish football fan's familiarity with the unwritten laws of the game, the best-know of these being that if Rangers need a penalty, Rangers get a penalty. Shockingly enough, then, Rangers are awarded an 89th minute penalty, which is duly dispatched by Boyd, breaking his duck at Tynecastle in Rangers colours, and giving the Ibrox side the victory.

How unusual.