RANGERS may have made it 10 wins out of 10 in the Championship this season with this narrow win over Queen of the South to maintain their nine point lead over their nearest challengers Raith Rovers.
Yet, Mark Warburton’s side did not, for the second competitive outing in succession, receive perfect marks for their display against a youthful team which had been weakened by injury.
Far from it. They struggled to break down Queens and required a last-minute strike from Martyn Waghorn – who had seen a penalty saved just moments earlier – in order to secure the slenderest of victories.
Given that Rangers had also struggled a fortnight earlier ,it was further evidence that the Ibrox club will not, as many had been predicting after their highly impressive start to their campaign, sweep aside all before them in the second tier.
Warburton’s side still remains strong favourites to win the title and clinch the automatic promotion place, but, by his own admission, they will have to work hard to do it.
Their prospects of winning all of their 36 of their games in the 2015/16 campaign – a possibility that has been floated in some quarters – appear slight.
“Opponents have good quality and organisation, they are compact, hard to break down and they have men behind the ball,” said Warburton.
“It’s not going to be 5-0 every week. It’s about us being patient and hopefully getting our rewards. Fortunately, we had good focus and concentration."
Rangers made two changes to the side which had toiled to overcome Falkirk in their last game. Nathan Oduwa, who had been poor in that outing, was dropped and Kenny Miller came in. Elsewhere, Danny Wilson, who had suffered a knock in training, was replaced by Dominic Ball.
The home team dominated possession throughout the game without creating a plethora of chances against visitors who sat deep. Their best chance of the first half was a dipping volley from Waghorn from the edge of the penalty box which Robbie Thomson did well to palm wide.
Queens took their chance well when it came in the 35th minute. Ryan Conroy whipped a corner into the Rangers box and Chris Higgins flicked it on with his head. Lyle was perfectly positioned to drill it into the roof of the net.
Rangers, no doubt after a few harsh words from their manager at half-time, started the second half with real purpose and drew level with a well-worked move in the 53rd minute. James Tavernier sent Jason Holt through and his shot eluded Thomson.
Warburton put on Oduwa for Miller and Nicky Law for Dean Shiels in an attempt to edge in front. But his replacements were unable to carve out an opening and net themselves and the tension inside the stadium grew considerably.
Wes Foderingham in the Rangers goal needed to be sharp to deny first Alex Harris and then substitute Liam Coogans. As time wore on, it looked increasingly like they were going to drop their first points of the campaign.
Referee Barry Cook awarded a penalty to Rangers with just two minutes remaining after Andy Halliday went to ground following a challenge by Higgins. But Thomson did superbly to deny Waghorn.
The Englishman, who had netted seven times in seven spot kick attempts before yesterday, atoned for his failure to convert when he headed a Oduwa cross into the net shortly afterwards.
James Fowler, the Queen of the South manager, had to draft some inexperienced players into his starting line-up after Lewis Kidd and Darren Brownlie sustained injuries on Friday.
Despite being disappointed at the final outcome and the manner in which his charges had been denied another memorable result against Rangers, he was heartened by how they performed.
"That's the positive for us, the young players,” said Fowler. “We couldn't capitalise on that final ball into the box and that makes the difference. We defended well for long periods and frustrated Rangers.
"We did look dangerous on the counter. You could tell by the way the Rangers fans were at half-time that they weren't too happy. They got a reaction, but, again, we defended well. To lose the goal so late is disappointing.”
Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, Kiernan, Wallace, Ball, Miller (Oduwa, 58), Halliday, McKay (Clark, 76), Shiels (Law, 58), Holt, Waghorn. Substitutes not used: Kelly, Aird, Hardie, Thompson.
Booked: Halliday (49 minutes).
Queen of the South: Thomson, Higgins, Harris (Rutherford, 87), Lyle (Oliver, 66), Conroy, Jacobs, Hutton, Pickard, Hooper, Marshall, Smith (Coogans, 70). Replacements: Atkinson, Heffernan, Moxon, Hilson.
Booked: Pickard (38 minutes), Jacobs (48 minutes), Hooper (68 minutes), Thomson (89 minutes).
Referee: Barry Cook.
Attendance: 44, 133.
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