Stirling Albion manager Darren Young couldn’t hide his pride despite the Scottish Cup fourth-round defeat at Ibrox on Friday night.
The Binos held out for half an hour before eventually going down 4-0 to Rangers, whose goals came from debutant Alex Lowry, a James Tavernier penalty, Cedric Itten and Fashion Sakala.
The crowd of 37,916 included around 800 Albion supporters for what was only the second meeting of the clubs in the Scottish Cup, with Rangers having won the first 1-0 in 1978.
Stirling had drawn 0-0 on their last visit to Ibrox in March 2013 and earned a famous 1-0 victory at Forthbank in October 2012 but those matches were in the Third Division.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team are top of the cinch Premiership and are undefeated since the Dutchman took over from Steven Gerrard in November.
Young said: “I’m delighted with the attitude of the players and the performance they gave us. The fitness levels were great and the shape of the team was really good. It was a poor first goal to lose but we stuck at it and the big thing for me was the level they played at – we need to take that into our league games when obviously we won’t be pinned back like that.
“They have set a standard and the communication and the organisation was good. We had a couple of half-chances in the first half and two or three towards the end – big Dylan Mackin did well when he came on and it was a great strike to force a save. We never folded and it’s great experience for the players to play here and against that quality.
“I thought the first penalty was very soft because the ball just bounced up and hit an arm but the second was a stonewaller and it was a great save from Blair. Hopefully the fans and everyone connected with the club enjoyed the night. The supporters were great right from the start and you have to enjoy these occasions because they don’t come around very often.”
Meanwhile, keeper Blair Currie was a real standout at Ibrox with a first-half penalty save from James Tavernier the highlight.
The Rangers skipper had already converted a spot-kick to put the hosts 2-0 up when Currie dived to his right to push away his second effort shortly before half-time.
It was a special moment for the 27-year-old, who was a youth player with Rangers before going on to have spells at Hamilton Accies and Annan Athletic. He joined the Binos from Clyde in the summer of 2019 and is firmly established as the first choice at Forthbank.
He told Stirling Albion TV: “I think I was always going to be the busiest man in Ibrox but that’s what the goalie is there for and thankfully I made a few saves.
“I got a fingertip to the first penalty and I thought he would go the same way for the second because he had scored and, thankfully, I was able to make the save so I’m proud of that..
“To see 800 Stirling fans there gave the team a great boost – we could hear them throughout the game and they could see the effort the players put in. Some of the guys were working in the morning – I think they did the club proud.”
It’s back to cinch League Two business for the Binos on Saturday when they travel to Galabank to face Annan Athletic, who secured a dramatic 4-3 win at Clydebank in the Scottish Cup on Saturday and will now host Rangers in the last 16.
Young added: “Annan will be a hard game because they have been going well, but if we show the same attitude and desire we did against Rangers, we can hopefully get back up the road with three points.”
