• Scottish football round-up

Rangers crowned Third Division champions

ESPN staff
March 30, 2013
Rangers were unable to break the deadlock

Rangers have secured the Irn-Bru Third Division title after drawing 0-0 with Montrose and nearest rivals Queen's Park losing 1-0 against Elgin City.

Despite being unable to find a breakthrough Rangers were helped by Elgin City grabbing all three points against Queen's Park, with Stuart Leslie scoring the only goal of the game.

Ally McCoist's men could not secure victory against Montrose on a day when their opponents had an effort disallowed.

Rangers were handed a tough match the last time they visited Links Park in December, leaving with a hard-fought 4-2 win. This time around, they started sharply with efforts from Robbie Crawford and Lee McCulloch blocked in quick succession, before Kyle Hutton eventually rifled wide.

Montrose should have taken the lead through Martin Boyle but his back post header was off target when he should have had the net bulging.

Montrose thought they had taken the lead when they had the ball in the net after 65 minutes. Alexander fumbled an awkward cross that fell for Terry Masson. His shot was saved but the keeper could not hold that ball, which was turned into the empty net by Boyle.

But the goal was disallowed by referee Kevin Clancy for a foul on Alexander. It looked to be a controversial decision and a let off for Rangers, who were under pressure again when Alexander was called into action to beat away a powerful strike from Jamie Winter.

In the Scottish Premier League, Inverness kept up their pursuit of European football with a 2-1 win over Hibernian at Easter Road in the Premier League.

Second-half goals from Ross Draper and Andrew Shinnie, either side of Leigh Griffiths' 23rd goal of the season, were enough to earn them the victory, keeping them three points behind Motherwell in second and extending their lead over Ross County in fourth to five points.

Motherwell saw off helpless Dundee 3-0 at Dens Park thanks to goals from striker Michael Higdon and Nicky Law's second-half double as they remained on course to secure second place in the SPL.

Higdon put Stuart McCall's men on the road to victory with a ninth-minute header before midfielder Law struck in the 63rd and 79th minutes to kill off any hopes the Dark Blues had of a comeback.

Niall McGinn ended Aberdeen's long wait for a goal against Hearts and kept their top-six hopes alive as his double gave Craig Brown a 2-0 victory in his final home match as manager. McGinn netted 10 minutes into each half in front of 10,175 fans at Pittodrie to keep them in the race for the top half ahead of their trip to Dundee United next Saturday, after which the League splits in two and Brown steps down.

James Fowler's second-minute goal was enough to secure the points for Kilmarnock in a 1-0 at Ross County. It was only County's third defeat of the season at Victoria Park but one they should never have lost having dominated most of the match.

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