St Mirren 0 - 3 Rangers: Rangers refuse to give up without fight

ST MIRREN 0

RANGERS 3
Boyd (4), Darcheville (24, 69)

RANGERS last night ensured they remain firmly in the race for the SPL title going into the final act of this dramatic season but were unable to tip the odds back in their favour.

While their first away victory in the championship since the end of February pulled them level on points with Celtic at the top of the table, it is the reigning champions who retain the initiative with a goal difference now superior by four to that of their great rivals.

It means if Celtic defeat Dundee United at Tannadice on Thursday night, the only way Rangers can prevent them winning a third successive title is by defeating Aberdeen at Pittodrie by four more goals.

It is the unlikeliest of scenarios for Walter Smith's team who surely now need Gordon Strachan's men to slip up on Tayside if the prize they have cherished most this season is not to elude them.

Rangers, playing their 66th match of the campaign last night, had enough chances in an ultimately one-sided match to make the goal-difference issue more intriguing, but were frustrated by their own poor finishing and some dogged defending by a St Mirren side who have ended the season in tenth place in the table.

Against opponents who had kept six clean sheets in their previous eight matches, including four consecutively in their more recent outings, Smith had clearly been wise to counsel against the notion Rangers would be able to roll up at Love Street with their primary focus on achieving victory by a glut of goals.

While simply securing three points was his priority, however, he was nonetheless aware of the need to maximise his team's attacking options. He did so by switching to a 4-3-3 formation with the scarcely used Kris Boyd deployed as the spearhead between Nacho Novo and Jean-Claude Darcheville.

It was an adventurous approach born more of necessity than invention and although Rangers did not have things all their own way in the opening exchanges, it reaped an encouraging dividend for the Ibrox side.

Their fourth-minute opener re-ignited belief among their supporters that the initiative might just be reclaimed in the title race. St Mirren could only clear a Steven Davis corner as far as Kevin Thomson who returned it quickly to the Northern Ireland international. Davis floated a pass wide to Kirk Broadfoot, who had found space on the right side of the box. The former captain of St Mirren, who had been jeered by the home supporters, cut the ball back in behind a central defence who had been slow to react. Novo, the initial target of the pass, failed to connect but the ball ran on into the path of Boyd, who was never likely to miss the opportunity to slot in his 23rd goal of the season from close range.

There was no appreciable surge of immediate momentum in Rangers' play following the goal and St Mirren defender Will Haining might have done better than direct a free header straight at Neil Alexander after being picked out by Franco Miranda's free-kick.

A more difficult headed chance fell to Boyd at the other end and, while Darcheville did well to find his team-mate with a sharp cross from the right, the pace on the ball contributed to Boyd only succeeding in guiding his effort wide of Mark Howard's right-hand post.

Rangers were again fortunate not to concede an equaliser when Stephen McGinn somehow managed to outjump Broadfoot and nod the ball narrowly over the crossbar with Alexander beaten.

There was fresh encouragement for the visitors, however, when they took a firmer grip on the match with a second goal in the 24th minute. While it was finished stylishly by Darcheville, it owed much to some wretched defending by St Mirren.

Stephen O'Donnell dithered on the ball after receiving a pass from Haining just outside the home penalty area. He was dispossessed by Davis who fed it on to Darcheville. The French striker steadied himself before driving an excellent right-foot shot low beyond Howard's left hand into the corner of the net.

Anyone doubting St Mirren's competitive edge in the match would have been persuaded otherwise by the touchline fracas which saw four players booked as a result of one incident by referee Craig Thomson. An off-the-ball clash involving Thomson and Murray sparked a melee which, when order was restored, saw the two instigators cautioned along with Billy Mehmet and Steven Whittaker.

Rangers came agonisingly close to a third goal two minutes before half-time, Darcheville striking Howard's right-hand post with an overhead kick after Boyd had knocked down a Davis cross, but Smith could only be satisfied with the outcome of their endeavours in the opening 45 minutes.

Rangers' attempts to make further inroads on Celtic's superior goal difference were far from cultured, but they managed to create chances nonetheless against a St Mirren side who appeared increasingly as if they were longing for the end of the season.

Novo managed to beat Howard with a curling shot from 16 yards after energetic work from Broadfoot on the right, but Haining was well placed to make a fairly comfortable clearance over his own crossbar.

Darcheville then created a far more straightforward opportunity for Novo which the little Spaniard sliced wastefully wide of Howard's left-hand post.

It was hardly sustained pressure from Rangers, with much of the play scrappy and contained to the middle third of the pitch, but there remained a sense that they could increase their tally.

Darcheville's low shot from the edge of the penalty area was turned behind by Howard, who then comfortably held David Weir's header from a Thomson free-kick, before Rangers were finally rewarded with a third goal in the 69th minute.

Boyd did well to hold the ball up for Barry Ferguson who split the St Mirren defence with a beautifully executed diagonal through ball which picked out Darcheville.

The striker showed great composure to slot a low shot beyond the exposed Howard from around 14 yards.