Rangers' Steven Davis and Marco Paixao of Hamilton jostle for possession

By David McDaid

Hamilton and Rangers will meet again at Ibrox after serving up an action-packed draw in the Scottish Cup fourth round.

Rangers looked comfortable after Steven Whittaker and Kenny Miller fired them into a two-goal lead within 30 minutes.

But Simon Mensing pulled one back from a penalty, then Marco Paixao and Mickael Antoine-Curier completed an amazing Accies comeback by the break.

Miller levelled from the spot, and Accies finished with 10 men as Richard Hastings received a second yellow card.

The draw marks only the second time these clubs have ended all-square in the Scottish Cup, with the last time coming in 1913 when the score was 1-1.

But after half an hour at New Douglas Park few would have been able to imagine the eventual scoreline.

Despite showing energy form the kick-off Hamilton's enthusiasm was quickly dampened with just four minutes on the clock when Whittaker struck.

The hosts' defence was sloppy as they failed to clear Lee McCulloch's header from set-piece, succeeding only in nudging it into the path of Whittaker who thumped a volley past the helpless Tomas Cerny from 10 yards.

After such an early set-back Accies might have crumbled, but on the contrary they asserted themselves on their opponents.

Hastings wasted a wonderful chance to level when he blasted over Trent McClenahan's inch-perfect cross to the back post.

Moments later that poor miss appeared even more critical as Rangers went up-field anD doubled their advantage.

Accies' marking was poor as they afforded Miller time and space on the edge of the box to expertly bend a shot low inside Cerny's post.

With a 2-0 advantage many inside New Douglas Park may have thought the holders were in for a straightforward start to the defence of their trophy.

But on 39 minutes the home side were handed a lifeline from the penalty spot after Kirk Broadfoot barged Mark McLaughlin in the back. Mensing confidently stroked the ball past McGregor to mark the start of a remarkable comeback.

Five minutes later Paixao blasted in the equaliser from close range with the visitors' defence failing to deal with the bouncing ball.

And, incredibly, Accies went off at half-time in the lead thanks to a mixture of fortune and composure in stoppage time.

David Weir slipped when receiving a pass and Guadeloupe forward Antoine-Curier pounced, ran 20 yards towards goal and slipped a cool finish under McGregor and inside the far post.

To compound Rangers' misery, top-scorer Kris Boyd and midfield playmaker Steven Davis both hobbled off injured.

After the restart Rangers upped the tempo. McCulloch and Kyle Lafferty both went close, before they eventually restored parity from the penalty spot on 63 minutes.

Elliot handled the ball while prone on the ground and Miller got his second, sending Cerny the wrong way from 12 yards.

With 10 minutes remaining Hamilton were reduced to 10 men when Hastings received a second yellow for a foul on Andrew Little, but they managed to hold on to force the replay at Ibrox.

Hamilton manager Billy Reid:
"Credit to my players, in the first half some of our play was brilliant and that's how I want to play at this club.

"I couldn't believe we were 2-0 down, but we were the best side for the rest of the half and deservedly went in 3-2 up at the break ahead.

"It got a bit scrappy in the second half. They came out strong but didn't pose us too many problems.

"But I think today we showed over the 90 minutes we deserved to win the game.

"Now we go to Ibrox and we know what to expect there - Rangers come out all guns blazing."

Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist:

"It was a bizarre first half. We were 2-0 up and hadn't played particularly well.

"But we sat back and allowed Hamilton to come on to us and the standard of goals we lost was really, really poor.

"We were all over the place for a 15-minute period.

"We weren't great in the second half but it was a lot better and we certainly deserve to still be in the tie."

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