Rangers punters pyro party as Celtic hype man doesn't miss rivals - Inside derby where spite was back with a vengeance

There was supposed to be no pyro in the away end … and certainly no party.

By full-time there was both as Barry Ferguson’s remarkable Rangers side gave the travelling faithful reason to spark up.

The SPFL might have yet have something to say about that having issued a stern flare warning a couple of weeks back. But for the visitors, this was a result that illuminates what has been a bleak domestic campaign.

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter much, with Gers still 13 points shy of Brendan Rodgers’ side and their title-winning pace. But for Ferguson it will mean the absolute world.

In the space of four days he’s managed to down one of the game’s greatest ever managers in Jose Mourinho and now a boss who has taken excellence in the dug out to unparalleled levels since first coming north in 2016.

This is just Brendan Rodgers’ third derby defeat from 22 scraps.

For Ferguson, it ends a run of frustrating firsts. The caretaker boss’ Old Firm debut as a player ended a 5-1 hammering. His maiden derby as skipper resulted in red card shame as Martin O’Neill’s side rampaged to a 6-2 win.

Now his first as boss has resulted in a win that will at the very least provide a major bump of confidence as Gers look ahead to next month’s Europa League quarter-final with Athletic Bilbao. Barry was never far from the heart of action as a player and he was the same as a boss.

There was even a trademark booking as the interim gaffer raced up and down his technical area, barking orders and arguing with the officials.

You had to laugh at the irony of the situation as Ferguson turned to his team midway through the first half and implored them to keep calm given he’d spent the opening 25 minutes kicking every ball.

The 47-year-old was