While
former Scotland international Allan Johnston's form
for Kilmarnock has not been what it was in previous
seasons, there was little room for confusion that
the message was intended for club chairman Michael
Johnston who has been criticised for failing to
reinvest in the squad as manager Jim Jefferies
continues to lose his best players in every transfer
window.The Ibrox side were looking to restore their four-point lead in the league, while Kilmarnock were in desperate need of points to take them away from the foot of the table.
Shorty after kick-off it was Walter Smith's men that looked the more likely to succeed in their task, and they should have taken the lead within two minutes.
Kris Boyd headed on a high ball for Jean-Claude Darcheville, who collected and raced between Killie's central defenders.
But the Frenchman lifted the ball over both the on-rushing Alan Combe and the Kilmarnock crossbar.
Kilmarnock showed they were not content to contain the table-toppers, and came close through Craig Bryson on 11 minutes.
The midfielder skipped past Brahim Hemdani and curled a low shot from 22 yards that sneaked just past Allan McGregor's left-hand post.
Rangers winger Chris Burke was seeing lots of the ball on the right side of midfield.
And Darcheville was inches away from taking the lead midway through the half, but was unable to get his boot to a Burke corner that dropped at the far post.
But the Ibrox side broke the deadlock moments later.
Kirk Broadfoot delivered into the box, and the ball eventually fell to Carlos Cuellar, who coolly headed back across goal and inside Combe's post.
Kilmarnock nearly pulled back a quick equaliser from a Simon Ford looping header that McGregor was glad to see land on the roof of the net.
The home side continued to press, although a number of their attacks were thwarted by offside calls.
But Darcheville passed up an excellent chance to double Rangers' lead minutes before the break.
The striker again used his blistering pace to beat the Killie defence to a long ball.
But with only the keeper to beat, he lacked
composure and screwed his shot wildly past the post
as Rangers took a slender lead into the half-time
break.
However, the Ibrox side were eager to secure the
points, and Combe was called on within minutes of
the re-start to tip a powerful Boyd free-kick round
the post.
Ref
Mike McCurry, no more than 10
yards away from the incident,
pointed straight to the spot and
also waved a yellow card at
Hamill who accepted his
punishment with a token shrug of
the shoulders then watched as
Boyd, with a thumping drive, put
the result beyond question, has he became
Rangers' all-time record SPL scorer.
Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies' decision to bring on David Fernandez almost paid dividends six minutes from time.
The Spaniard intercepted a poor pass-back from Broadfoot, but after rounding McGregor he could only steer his shot wide from a tight angle.
And at the other end Combe was alert to prevent a third as he saved Lee McCulloch's flick from close range.
Sandy's Match Pic's are HERE
