Ibrox has given a pretty good impression of being an impregnable fortress for Rangers this season, but then again it’s all about the quality of the enemy at the gate.
Raith Rovers were predictably thrown on to the enormous pile of their beaten casualties, put to the sword on a night when another Hibernian defeat eased Rangers 14 points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes SPFL Championship. Given that their goal difference is superior to Hibs’s by 34 and there are just nine games left, no doubt remains about who will lift the league trophy and automatic promotion.
They will be officially a Premiership club by the end of May, then, but the chance to prove themselves in that company will arrive far sooner. When they run out at their fortress again on Saturday it will be to face Dundee in the William Hill Scottish Cup. They have won 17 out of 18 home games against Championship opposition this season but none out of two when Premiership sides have passed through in the cups. St Johnstone won here in the League Cup and Kilmarnock got a Scottish Cup draw last month before Rangers narrowly won the replay.
As it has been since their first fixture in the fourth tier in the autumn of 2012 it is impossible for Rangers to face top-flight opposition without all sorts of judgements being made on how ready they are for that level. There need not be any great mystery over the matter. They are capable of holding their own against any visitors.
At their best, and they were never that against Raith, they play with an impressively high tempo, crisp passing, clever movement and a sense of menace around in an around the penalty area. They work cute through balls into good areas. Harry Forrester and Lee Wallace’s goals were their 98th and 99th in all competitions this season.
Advertisement
Still, it’s equally valid to acknowledge they can be discomfited by pace and quality in the opposition’s attack, can be caught out of position, and don’t look so happy when they are denied their control of possession which comes to them naturally because of their superiority in the second tier. Sometimes the endless passing doesn’t lead anywhere.
For most of another routine win last night they were untroubled. Forrester scored for the second time in four days and Lee Wallace sliced home his seventh of the season, a figure which reflects that, for a left-back, he makes not a bad inside left. Raith were organised and had plenty of bite in their tackling but Rangers wore them down: too brisk and energetic to be denied.
Ratings
Forrester showed skill and nimbleness to make room for himself before bending a shot inside the far post from the edge of the box, then Rangers slashed through the right side of Raith’s defence and Billy King laid the ball off for Wallace’s smooth finish. They peppered Kevin Cuthbert’s goal and should have had more. They were able to introduce Liam Burt, who turned 17 on February 1, for his debut.
If the top two keep winning — start winning again in Hibs’s case — Rangers will clinch the title in five games’ time, which could mean at home to Dumbarton on Tuesday April 5.
Hibs were beaten by a goal scored by Queen of the South’s Andy Murdoch who is on loan from Rangers. “All part of the masterplan,” joked Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager. “Knowing we can win it in five games can’t change anything for us. Now it’s all about the Dundee game. We know they will be a tough test, they are a good team, an established Premiership team, but we’re in good shape.”