WAGHORN USES HIS HEAD TO KEEP MAXIMUM POINTS ON THE BOARD

SOMETIMES there is merit in taking the direct route to goal. Rangers preserved their perfect Championship record but only just, as Martyn Waghorn made up for a late penalty miss to score a last-minute winner.

The goal from the former Wigan forward was not only Rangers’ 50th of the season but, more remarkably, the first header, a symptom of the style of play favoured by manager Mark Warburton.

This was an i mperfect performance by the team in blue and, when goalkeeper Robbie Thomson pushed away Waghorn’s 88th-minute spot-kick, it looked like James Fowler’s youthful, understrength line-up would claim a hard-earned point.

‘It’s not going to be 5-0 every week, it’s about us being patient and hopefully getting our rewards,’ admitted Warburton after watching his side secure 10 league wins in a row. ‘I don’t think there are too many headers around the league, to be honest, but to have missed that penalty at that time and get the reaction and the goal was tremendous.’

If Warburton (pictured right) has an enviable pool of resources at his disposal, Fowler commenced his first full season in management with arguably the toughest task in the division on his hands.

Having inherited a strong team from Jim McIntyre almost a year ago, the Queens squad was raided by a host of Premiership clubs.

Mark Durnan, Kevin Holt and Gavin Reilly all left for the top flight, while the preparation for this game was thrown into disarray by the loss of defenders Darren Brownlie and Lewis Kidd in training on Friday.

With the experienced duo of Andy Dowie and Mark Millar also missing, you feared for the visitors as a deluge of attacks rained down in the early stages. Barrie McKay was having a ball on the left flank, twisting poor Kyle Jacobs in knots.

Kenny Miller ought to have converted one of the winger’s cut-backs but lashed his shot over, while the rest of Queens’ young back four were doing men’s jobs to throw themselves in front of shots from Dominic Ball — in at centre-half for the injured Danny Wilson — and Waghorn.

The Doonhamers did not come armed without a counterattacking plan, however, and Alex Harris nearly nicked the opener. The on-loan Hibs winger cut on to his right foot 20 yards out and sent a shot skimming wide of the far post.

Waghorn and Lee Wallace both tested Thomson but Rangers were not precise enough with their final touch.

Queens proved more clinical from Ryan Conroy’s corner to take an unlikely lead. The former Celtic man’s deflected shot had earned the set-piece and his cross was deadly, inviting a flick-on from Chris Higgins that invited veteran striker Derek Lyle to side-foot home his eighth goal of the season.

Both Conroy and ex-Ibrox midfielder Kyle Hutton had become growing influences on the game, but Rangers returned a much more purposeful team after the interval. The equaliser came from Jason Holt, who was emerging as the home team’s key player. James Tavernier did the set-up work, drawing the inexperienced stopper Scott Hooper out before shoving a reverse pass into the space for Holt, whose angled finish found the far corner of the net with ease. Almost instantly, McKay missed a chance to put Rangers in front, wildly lashing a shot wide from Miller’s cross, before Waghorn