Rangers stretch lead at top after victory

Rangers 4 St Mirren 0

Steven Whittaker doubled his tally for the season to send Rangers seven points clear at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

As well as Whittaker’s double, Chris Burke and Kris Boyd were also on the scoresheet as Rangers eased to a 4-0 victory over 10-man St Mirren.

The victory cranks up the pressure on title rivals Celtic, who now face a must-win game against Falkirk tomorrow.

With three consecutive wins over Hibernian, Dumbarton and Motherwell, 2008 had been good to St Mirren so far. But, as with most new year resolutions, their good intentions failed to see out the month.

Saints had put up a strong fight here earlier in the season before eventually succumbing to a 2-0 defeat thanks to Barry Ferguson’s strike and a debut goal from Daniel Cousin. However, today’s match was over as a contest by half-time.

The Rangers line-up had a more familiar look to it following a 6-0 Scottish Cup win over East Stirling in midweek. Ferguson reclaimed the captain’s armband, while goalkeeper Allan McGregor and David Weir shored up the defence.

Billy Mehmet was given the task of lone striker for the visitors, with Craig Dargo dropping to the bench to make way for the introduction of Garry Brady.

A turgid opening to the match followed, with the Paisley club carving out the first real chance.

Ian Maxwell, who netted a double last week, turned provider to deliver a cross to Mehmet in front of goal but his header was touched just wide of the post by a full-stretch McGregor.

There was a moment of concern for Rangers when Will Haining clattered into Jean-Claude Darcheville but the striker was soon back on his feet and the incident would prove to be far more costly to the opposition than the home side.

Rangers took the lead after 26 minutes and never looked back. Darcheville released Ferguson down the left flank and the skipper cut the ball across the face of goal to Burke, who took his time to tee up the shot and pick his spot, firing home from the edge of the six-yard box.

Haining then paid the price for an earlier booking for the foul on Darcheville when he collected his second yellow card for hauling down Alan Hutton and was sent packing by referee Mike Tumilty after half an hour.

The day went from bad to worse for Saints when Rangers doubled their lead after 32 minutes.

This time, Darcheville fed the ball through to Boyd who rifled over Smith and into the back of the net. It was the striker’s fourth goal in four days after claiming a hat-trick against East Stirling.

Whittaker, deployed in the left-back role usually occupied by Sasa Papac, then helped himself to Rangers’ third of the day four minutes later, squeezing a shot through several black and white jerseys and past the helpless Saints goalkeeper.

Carlos Cuellar was an unlikely threat for Rangers after the restart, coming close with a header, but the assistant referee had already flagged for offside.

Burke proved to be a far greater danger when he pounced on a Darcheville through ball and cut inside only to drag his shot across the face of goal and wide with the gaping net at his mercy.

Darcheville – still yet to play a full 90 minutes for Rangers – made way for Steven Naismith shortly after the hour mark, while Saints swapped Mehmet for Stewart Kean.

Lee McCulloch, who had suffered an ankle knock in midweek, was thrown into the action for the last 20 minutes. Nacho Novo then replaced Burke.

But it was Whittaker who stole all the plaudits by grabbing his second goal of the day with 10 minutes to go.

He ghosted in from the left flank and ran onto Boyd’s lay-off before despatching a powerfully-struck effort into Smith’s top corner – the goalkeeper able to do little more than look on in awe.