Alloa Athletic battle to draw against Rangers

Rangers have missed the chance to close the gap at the top of the Scottish Championship after drawing 1-1 with Alloa Athletic this afternoon.

The hosts had the ball in the back of the net inside the opening five minutes, but Nicky Law's effort was ruled out after the assistant's offside flag went up.

Alloa's Michael Doyle was then allowed to venture forward unchallenged before he forced a good save from Steve Simonsen as his side threatened on the counter.

Rangers had the large majority of possession throughout the half, however, with Law and Ian Black in particular pulling the strings for the home side in the middle of the park.

The former threaded a through-ball into the path of Kris Boyd and he should have scored when one on one with Craig McDowall but his low drive was saved.

Darren McGregor and David Templeton were the next to come close for Rangers before Kevin Cawley fired over at the other end.

After the break, Lewis Macleod found himself in space on the edge of the box before curling an effort towards goal that forced an acrobatic save from McDowall.

Aside from that early chance, both sides struggled to find any rhythm as the second half went on and chances were initially at a premium.

The breakthrough eventually came for Rangers from a corner which was headed in by Lee McCulloch at the back post.

Alloa equalised through Liam Buchanan, who was there to pick up the rebound and score after Cawley had a shot saved.