3-1 at Rugby Park this afternoon with Marvin Andrews,
a half-time substitute, the two-goal hero.
The win, crucial in the race for second place, means
that Rangers have now reduced the gap behind Hearts to
just one point, although the Edinburgh side have still
to entertain Celtic tomorrow.
The Ibrox men travelled to Ayrshire fully aware that
they had enjoyed a 100% record thus far this season
against Kilmarnock. Indeed it is all of twelve years
since they suffered defeat at Rugby Park.
The visitors, in navy blue, made one change from
Parkhead with Ian Murray replacing the suspended
Sotirios Kyrgiakos.
Kris Boyd, back on his old stamping ground for the
first time since his transfer to Ibrox, almost opened
the scoring in five minutes with a header from a Chris
Burke cross that landed on the roof of the net.
Nine minutes later Alan Combe kept the home side on
level terms with a double save from Thomas Buffel and
Gavin Rae.
It was all Rangers at this stage - Dado Prso testing
Combe with a 25-yard drive that the goalkeeper held in
eighteen minutes.
Against the run of play however the opening goal when
it arrived came at the other end nine minutes later -
Colin Nish netting with a superb left-foot volley
after Gary Wales had headed a Lindsay Wilson cross
into his path.
A clash of heads between Kris Boyd and Garry Hay
resulted in the Killie full-back being stretchered off
with a head knock - that it took fully five minutes to
treat the player indicated the seriousness of the
injury. Gary McDonald substituted in 35 minutes.
Three minutes later Rangers had a strong penalty claim
turned down by Referee Calum Murray when Jamie Fowler
upended Chris Burke, and within seconds the winger was
harshly yellow carded for alleged simulation.
The visitors finished the half strongly - Boyd being
inches away from connecting with a Thomas Buffel
cutback after the Belgian was released by a Prso pass.
Before the interval Rangers were denied a stonewall
penalty when Buffel was hauled down by Wilson - yet
incredibly the referee judged the offence to have
occurred outside the box - a blatant cop-out if ever
there was one.
Manager Alex McLeish introduced Marvin Andrews at
half-time in place of Alan Hutton with Ian Murray
moving to right-back.
The arrival of the Trinidadian had an immediate impact
- with his first touch of the ball he made the
faintest of contacts to head the ball past Combe from
a Steven Smith free-kick in fifty minutes.
Rangers were now well on top - and took the lead
fourteen minutes later when inevitably Boyd headed
home, with the aid of a deflection, from a Prso cross.
Andrews made it a double to put the visitors 3-1 ahead
in 78 minutes when, from virtually under the crossbar,
he headed a Burke chip into the net - the Rangers
winger having caught a Julien Rodriguez lob on the
byeline.
Kilmarnock never gave up the fight however - Steven
Naismith seeing his effort from a Stevie Murray
free-kick scrambled off the line by Murray in the
dying minutes - but the win was secure and afterwards
Alex McLeish summarised:
"We gave a spirited performance in the second-half.
Marvin Andrews was deadly at set-pieces. The
pressure's all on Hearts now - their sixteen-point
lead had dwindled to just one. We've been playing
catch-up for a long time."
KILMARNOCK Combe; Wilson, Greer, Wright, Hay (McDonald
35); Invincible (Di Giacomo 70), Johnston, Fowler,
Naismith; Nish, Wales (Murray 80)
UNUSED SUBS Smith, Leven, Campbell, Bell
RANGERS Waterreus; Hutton (Andrews 45), Rodriguez,
Murray, Smith; Burke, Hemdani, G. Rae (A. Rae 88),
Prso (Novo 80); Buffel, Boyd
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Malcolm, Gilmour, Ashikodi
REFEREE Calum Murray
Attendance 11,583