Alloa Athletic 1-1 Rangers

Out of sorts and and almost out of answers, Rangers suffered a slip in the Championship title race.

The credit belonged to Alloa, since they were worthy of the lead they took through Jonathan Tiffoney.

The home side were six minutes away from a significant result when David Templeton prodded in an equaliser.

Both sides were frustrated, though, as Alloa had performed well enough to win and the visitors saw Hearts move further ahead at the top of the league.

Rangers' shortcomings were evident as their play lacked tempo or structure.

There were setbacks, too, as influential duo Lewis Macleod and Nicky Clark suffered first-half injuries.

Even so, Alloa's self-assurance and doggedness was the prime reason for Rangers' forlorn display.

Impressive midfielder Graeme Holmes almost opened the scoring from 40 yards. The chance came after Rangers goalkeeper Steve Simonsen failed to release the ball properly as he tried to throw it upfield, and then had to scurry after it towards the corner flag.

When he reached the ball he tried to clear but fired it straight to Holmes, who took a touch before shooting.

The moment was representative of Rangers' lack of assurance.

Ian Black and Nicky Law were overrun in midfield, while wingers Fraser Aird and Templeton - who replaced Macleod - were never able to run at the full-backs. Rangers resorted to long diagonal balls upfield, which left Kris Boyd looking increasingly isolated.

Alloa were compact and purposeful, with Ryan McCord orchestrating much of their play. Their chances tended to come from set-pieces, and Kyle Benedictus headed over in the first-half just before Tiffoney scored.

Alloa were worthy of their half-time lead, as the organisation and industry of Barry Smith's side left Rangers looking bedraggled.

Their lack of tempo and intensity was familiar, but also unexpected since Rangers were on a run of seven straight victories, and gave impressive displays in their previous two games, against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Raith Rovers.

Jon Daly's appearance as Clark's replacement provided a more reliable presence as a target man.

It was still typical of Rangers afternoon, though, that as Black tried to latch on to a clearance on the edge of the penalty area, he tripped over the feet of the referee John McKendrick and fell over.

An untidy moment led to the Rangers equaliser. The ball bobbled around following a free-kick into the area, eventually dropping to Lee McCulloch. His shot was pushed away by goalkeeper John Gibson but Templeton was on hand to stab the ball in from close range.

Rangers thought they had scored a winner when Daly converted another free-kick, only for the striker to spot the offside flag as he wheeled away to celebrate.

The Ibrox men now trail Championship leaders Hearts by three points after they hammered Cowdenbeath 5-1 at Tynecastle.