Cowdenbeath 0-0 Rangers

Familiar failings troubled Rangers as they toiled to a draw at Cowdenbeath in the Championship.

A new era began off the pitch on Friday, but the watching new directors were further reminded of the scale of the task they face.

They had hoped that the boardroom revolution would lift the team, but the display was bereft against a side defeated 10-0 by Hearts last weekend.

Lee McCulloch's header against the bar was as close as Rangers came.

The conditions, with the gusting unpredictability of the wind and the heaviness of the surface, demanded tolerance from the players. Controlling the ball was awkward enough, and moving it around with certainty and finesse was near impossible.

Even so, the visitors still fell short of the worth of their team.

Rangers had the wind at their backs in the opening half - which meant that the Cowdenbeath goalkeeper Robbie Thomson could barely reach the halfway line with his goal-kicks - and they dominated in terns of territory. They still made little impact in an attacking sense.

Cowdenbeath ought to have been more vulnerable, after last week's hammering, but Rangers' struggle to master the conditions allowed the home side to carefully nurse their bruised egos.

The grimness was seldom liberated. Rangers' Nicky Clark lashed a shot wide early on then Kris Boyd, spinning into the channel with the instincts of old, volleyed over. Kenny Miller refused to allow his industry to be diminished by the circumstances, and he intermittently found himself scurrying into dangerous positions.

Paul Murray (left), John Gilligan (centre) and Dave King watched Rangers' draw from the stands after successfully ousting the club's previous board at the club's EGM on Friday

On one occasion, he skewed the ball into the side-netting from close range, then on another he curled a shot over from the edge of the box.

Cowdenbeath have defended haplessly at times this season, but Rangers were unable to uncover or take advantage of their points of weakness.

The game was brutally uncultured at times, although Clark's pace was still evident and one cross-field burst carried him on to Lee Wallace's through ball, but his attempt to chip Thomson only resulted in a corner kick.

It was a measure of the fierceness of the wind that Darren Brownlie's straightforward backpass flew out of play. The resultant corner kick carried right across the penalty area and straight out. During the interval, groundstaff had to hold down the empty dugouts because they would have clattered over in the wind.

Frustration accompanied Rangers back into the dressing room, with McCulloch having flashed a header off the face of the crossbar just before the break. Both sides had to adapt again, with Cowdenbeath enjoying the advantage of the wind at their backs in the second period.

They made territorial gains, and John Armstrong managed to angle a header on to the roof of the net after muscling his way into space to meet a long throw into the Rangers penalty area.

The conditions were an aspect of the game that had to be managed, and Rangers were unable to meet that challenge, although Marius Zaliukas headed wide from Nicky Law's corner with only five minutes left.

Ultimately, Rangers only gained ground on second-place Hibernian by one point in the first of three games in hand,. Promotion, as it stands, remains at risk.