SMOOTHEST OF PASSAGES
Waghorn has Ibrox men home and hosed
MARK WARBURTON has not been shy about voicing his misgivings on certain aspects of the revamped Betfred Cup, but the Rangers manager’s view of the business-like way his side have dealt with their blizzard of assignments in Group F will certainly be rather brighter.
Notwithstanding the fact the Ibrox club have only faced one club — Motherwell — from Scotland’s top two divisions in this season’s curtain-raiser, the perfunctory manner of the Glasgow giants’ progress to the last 16 of the competition has been impressive.
Stranraer of League One offered next to no threat to Warburton’s ambitions of qualifying with a clean sweep of their four ties last night, although that was largely down to the diligent manner in which the home side approached the game from the first whistle to last.
Martyn Waghorn appears to be a man intent on making up for lost time. The striker missed a large chunk of last season’s run-in through injury — an unfortunate happening that in all probability prevented him from crashing through the 30-goal barrier.
It goes without saying that achieving that feat in the Premiership will be markedly more difficult yet that won’t prevent the Englishman giving it a go. His brace last night — which put Rangers out of sight by half-time — means he’s already on four goals 10 days before the league opener with Hamilton. Many more will assuredly follow.
Niko Kranjcar’s target for the campaign may be rather more modest, but a first goal for Rangers to give the club a more equitable sheen early in the second half was no less deserved. Warburton’s decision to look at the footballer rather than his last port of call — namely the MLS — already looks shrewd.
As predictable as the outcome was from the moment Waghorn converted a fifth-minute penalty, there was no shortage of positives for Warburton, chief among them the 26 minutes he was able to give Jordan Rossiter from the bench after the former Liverpool player returned from England’s run to the semi-final of the Under-19 European Championships in Germany.
Faced with a fourth game in nine days, the Rangers boss predictably dipped into his squad’s reserves with six changes from the side which won on Friday against East Stirlingshire, the most notable of which was a first home start for Joey Barton.
It was the Englishman’s vision that led to Rangers making a down-payment on the points inside four minutes.
His switch of play released Barrie McKay on the left. Ross Barbour needlessly went to ground as the winger attempted to bypass him. A clumsy swipe of his right leg brought McKay crashing to the ground leaving referee John Beaton without a decision to make.
Waghorn didn’t convince from 12 yards, but, nonetheless, converted.
The former Wigan man managed 28 goals over the course of that injury-interrupted debut season in light blue.
He might well have edged one closer to that tally on nine minutes. Harry Forrester’s cross from the right was simply begging to be nodded past Cameron Belford, but the keeper stood up and parried.
There was an impressive tempo and rhythm to Rangers initially. McKay showed imagination by trying to curl the ball around the Stranraer central defence although alas not Belford’s outstretched arm.
The traffic remained one-way towards Belford’s goal. Having pawed away James Tavernier’s shot from the edge of the box, he rose quickly to thwart Danny Wilson’s follow-up.
Only the timing and identity of the second goal were in doubt. Waghorn on 17 minutes was the answer.
What a muddle Stranraer’s Mark McGuigan got himself into as the deficit was doubled. Rather than take the ball in to try and build an attack 30 yards from goal, he inexplicably tried to feed it back to his keeper. It was a high-risk strategy that went spectacularly wrong.
Waghorn didn’t even have to ferret for the ball. He simply ghosted onto it, brushed off the attentions of Frank McKeown, and thumped it home.
Much as his side were unfancied here, Brian Reid, the Stranraer manager, would have been horrified at the way his men were killing themselves.
All over the park Rangers just got it far too easy. McGuigan wasn’t nearly tight enough on Lee Wallace as the skipper spun in the box and was relieved to see the cut back thumped into touch.
James Tavernier and Harry Forrester’s inability to keep the ball down from 25 yards ensured the visitors trudged up the tunnel knowing they had got off lightly.
Only Steven Bell’s interception four yards from his own goal prevented Waghorn turning home Andy Halliday’s cross and claiming a hat-trick within three minutes of the restart.
Waghorn did inadvertently tee up Kranjcar for the third five minutes later, though. A heavy touch on his part on the edge of the area ran straight to the Croatian, who buried the ball behind Belford with a fierce right-foot strike.
The game done, Warburton replaced Barton, McKay and Halliday with Kenny Miller, Joe Dodoo and Rossiter on 64 minutes.
That Stranraer managed to leave with a respectable scoreline owed much to Belford’s agility and a degree of home profligacy.
Stranraer’s Ryan Thomson gave Warburton a heart-in-mouth moment when he wildly crashed into Kranjcar on the touchline but, given there was no lasting damage, Beaton opted only to produce a yellow card.
Only Miller will know how he failed to convert Tavernier’s inch-perfect cross at the death, but it mattered little.