Irish eyes were smiling as they had Advocaat's squad all at sea Rangers alive with five in a second-half comeback

Three goals down, it took an amazing second-half fightback for the Ibrox side to earn a result which should take them through after the second leg at Ibrox next week.

Rangers coach Dick Advocaat called on the supporters to give his side more time to gel. Advocaat said he felt he had to ''rush'' some players into action, most notably striker Gabriel Amato whose two goals spurred Rangers to victory.

He criticised his side's first half performance but said they had shown great commitment to battle back in the second.

Advocaat said the game had been played at too fast a pace and his side had lost its shape. ''You saw the difference in the second half, especially the last 30 minutes.'' He said all teams needed time to come together to play their best and he pointed to Celtic's 0-0 draw at home as an example of that.

In a night of passion on the pitch and clashes between Rangers fans and police before the game it was two of Advocaat's big-money signings who got his team out of jail.

Five second-half goals, two from Argentinian Amato and one from Giovanni van Bronckhorst sandwiched between two penalty goals from Jorg Albertz gave the Ibrox side a thrilling victory.

For 50 minutes it looked like the Irish part-timers, with goalkeeper Alan Gough in inspired form, would record their most famous victory. However they wilted under Rangers power play and relentless pressure late in the game.

If it had not been for van Bronckhorst and Amato, Rangers would have been facing an uphill task in the second leg.

As it is the victory puts them in the driving seat for qualification into the next round of the UEFA Cup, but with many questions to answer.

Around 5000 Rangers supporters made the trip to Prenton Park to see their side in action as Ibrox sources were indicating they were ready to turn their attention to Hearts defender David Weir to try to fill the central defensive position.

Although Rangers had the bulk of the opening play, the Irish side scored after only six minutes. An untidy cross from former Manchester United youth player Dessie Baker from the right was missed by Rangers central defenders who expected full-back Sergio Porrini to clear the danger. However, he made a hash of his defensive duties and somehow managed to stear his header past Niemi in the Rangers goal into the far corner of the net.

Most of Rangers moves were coming down the left through strong running from Gordon Durie, whose left foot shot after 15 minutes from the corner of the six-yard box was well saved by Gough. Minutes later a corner from Albertz was met by Gordan Petric who saw his effort scrambled away from close in.

For all their pressure, Rangers were always open to being caught on the break and in 21 minutes Baker, who had been causing problems got to the by-line and should have done better with a low cross which was easily gathered by Niemi.

Rangers fell further behind when a Fenlon corner was met by Scully coming up from the back who headed down to Morley who in turn let the ball run to Rutherford who fired the ball home from close-range with four minutes to go to half-time. Rangers tried to shuffle the pack in the second-half bringing on Amato and Johannson in place of Guttuso and Graham.

In 58 minutes more misery was heaped on Rangers as the Irish side went further ahead. Fenlon released Pat Morley who beat off the challenge of two Rangers defenders before chipping the ball over goalkeeper Niemi. Rangers fans were left shellshocked by their team's poor performance and it took a penalty two minutes later to give them some hope.

A corner from Albertz was fired into a crowded penalty area and referee Anghelinei judged that a Shelbourne hand took it off the head of Amoruso. Albertz sent Gough the wrong way from the spot

Advocaat brought on Ian Ferguson in place of Jonas Thern, who like the others midfielders, had been anonymous for most of the match.

Ferguson struggled initially to make any impact and he first made his presence felt with a mistimed tackle on Kelly Liam in 67 minutes which earned him a booking.

With 17 minutes left Rangers pulled another goal back when Amato forced the ball home after a scramble in the Shelbourne defence then minutes later van Bronckhorst pulled them level with a low drive.

And it was Amato who struck with a header to put Rangers ahead in a remarkable second half, completed when another hand ball gave Albertz the chance to strike again from the spot.

Meanwhile, Rangers may be in trouble with UEFA following the incidents at last night's game.

A missile was thrown at Shelbourne keeper Gough although the player later said he had not been troubled by it. He described it as ''a ketchup bottle, or something like that.''

On top of the ugly scenes before the game, UEFA observer Karl Verongen of Belgium, who was not available for comment last night, will have a weighty report to compile.

SHELBOURNE - Gough, Geoghegan, McCarthy, Scully, Baker, Rutherford, Smith, Fenlon, Fitzgerald, Morley, Liam. Substitutes - Campbell, Neville, Flood, Gifford, Sheridan, Baker, O'Brien.

Rangers - Niemi, Porrini, Amoruso, Petric, van Bronckhorst, Gattuso, Ferguson, Thern, Albertz, Graham, Durie. Substitutes - Wilson, Charbonnier, Amato, Moore, Vidmar, Ferguson, Johannson.

Referee - V Anghelinei (Romania).