Kieran Dowell's Rangers handball conspiracy clamped by Barry Ferguson as madcap Hearts finale earns ref 'applause'

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Barry Ferguson joked that he stood up to applaud referee Matthew MacDermid after a bizarre ending to Rangers' 1-0 win over Hearts.

Jambos boss Neil Critchley was left fuming at the full-time whistle as he slammed the man in the middle for not playing enough stoppage time during the finale to the Scottish Premiership showdown. Hearts threw everything at Rangers as they chased an equaliser - even keeper Craig Gordon went up for the closing stages - with Cammy Devlin taking the final shot of the afternoon from the edge of the area.

Kieran Dowell raced out to block shot before MacDermid blew the whistle - but only after loud appeals from the Hearts players and bench who initially thought they had been awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box. Goalkeeper Gordon immediately took his protest to the man in the middle who appeared to indicate that he was discussing the incident with the VAR team over the headset.

But the game was brought to an end, with captain Lawrence Shankland continuing to quiz MacDermid as the teams trudged off the park. The discourse over the incident has continued online with some sceptics feeling the visitors were denied a clear chance at goal.

Speaking to the Go Radio Football Show, Ferguson conceded it was a nervy end for those watching in the home end: "I will be honest with you, going into the last 10 minutes I was worried. You could sense Hearts were gradually growing in confidence. They really came into the game but thankfully Rangers seen it out in the end."

Pressed on if he was worried about the potential handball on the edge of the area, the former Ibrox captain joked: "Yeah, I was delighted. I got up and gave the ref a round of applause."

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