The Defoe show seals top spot as Accies are thumped
FOR the first time in 10 months, Rangers are back at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership pile. Only time will tell whether they are here to stay this time.
But with a Jermain Defoe hat-trick and goals from Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic rounding off this emphatic rout of Hamilton, the fans who chanted ‘We shall not be moved’ certainly weren’t lacking in confidence in their side.
The Ibrox fans were in party mode well before Paul Gascoigne made a popular visit to Ibrox for the half-time draw. The nine-in-a-row legend enlivened the proceedings in his own inimitable fashion by saying ‘no surrender’, announcing the winning half-time draw number as 999 then mock headbutting Broxi the Bear. But what else did we learn on what was another day which suggested Rangers are a force to be reckoned with this season? He turns 37 today, is referred to as ‘uncle’ by the younger members of the group, and generally plays second fiddle to Alfredo Morelos in the big games, but there are still few men you would want running onto a one-onone than Jermain Defoe.
The man who recently escaped unhurt from a Glasgow car crash helped himself to his 10th, 11th and 12th goals of the season here in only his 15th appearance and how Rangers need him to keep topping up his tally with goals like the one he steered in after seven minutes to set the Ibrox side on course for a routine home win.
His mastery of the striker’s art was evident with the timing of the run which Greg Stewart found with some aplomb, not to mention the dinked finish over the onrushing Owain Fon Williams which kissed a post on its way in.
If it was uncharacteristic of the little man that he could only strike the woodwork soon afterwards with a straightforward volleyed finish at the far post from a Sheyi Ojo cross, his second of the day was a cracker too. Latching onto a Steven Davis pass, he wriggled past two men and found the bottom corner sweetly. He got his second match ball of the season courtesy of a close range finish after an effort from the excellent Stewart.