MARK Warburton still has a way to go before he can be spoken about in such reverential tones as Bill Struth but in one way at least he can already be said to be his equal. Another whopping victory at another of the Ibrox club’s supposed bogey grounds means that he is the first incoming Rangers manager to win his initial eight matches as manager since Struth back in 1920-21. Okay, so Struth’s Rangers weren’t in Scotland’s second tier back then but 30 goals scored and five conceded is a reasonable return.

Confirmation of that eighth victory in a row, which moved Rangers two points clear at the top of the division, came with an added dose of controversy in a rugged match which contained eight bookings and one sending off. Rangers were already a goal to the good by the time, five minutes into the second period, when the home side found themselves reduced to ten men, but it was the numerical advantage which really allowed them to run riot.

The man who was sent for an early Palmerston bath was Queens striker and boyhood Rangers fan Derek Lyle, dispatched by referee Bobby Madden, with the intervention of fourth official Crawford Allan, for motioning a head butt in the direction of Rob Kiernan as the two men squared up near the halfway line. While it was daft for a veteran player to get involved in such an altercation, it seemed rough on the home side that their man should see red while the hardly blame-free Kiernan escaped any censure. Both managers were agreed afterwards that a pair of yellow cards would have been sufficient.

The mood in the home areas towards Mr Madden was hardly improved by his decision to award Rangers a penalty a minute later. While it was probably fair enough that the match official deemed that Andy Dowie had unfairly impeded Dominic Ball’s attempt to get on the end of a Tavernier square ball, that being the case it was somewhat mystifying that a second red card didn’t follow for preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Warburton had made four changes from the team which swept Airdrie aside in the League Cup in midweek, with Dominic Ball, Dean Shiels and Nathan Oduwa dropping onto the bench and former Queens player Nicky Clark not even making the 16. Regulars such as Kenny Miller, Danny Wilson, Jason Holt and Barrie McKay returned for a match which brought them back to the scene of many of last season’s worst moments. The Doonhamers had taken the scalp of both Ally McCoist and Stuart McCall's Rangers during the regular season, then subjected McCall’s version to another almighty scare in the Premiership play-off quarter finals.

Both teams had changed massively since then, though, with a handful of Queens top stars being cherrypicked by Premiership clubs this summer just as the Warburton revolution was getting under way at Ibrox. Queens also came into this one with a 100% league record, but like most good teams, the Ibrox side these days have a habit of making it easy on themselves by racing into early leads.

Rangers were three up within 15 minutes in Airdrie so by those standards this was a quiet opening spell before they gradually managed to get a better grip of things. While Martyn Waghorn wasted a decent opening with an errant effort from all of 50 yards, McKay was demonstrating better decision-making on the pitch. The 20-year-old is clearly thriving with first team football, and his clever pass fed in Lee Wallace, only for the Rangers captain to tug his finish wide.

While James Tavernier had one of his customary efforts on goal, a shot from distance dropping a foot or so wide of the target, and Holt saw a low finish accidentally blocked by his own player Waghorn, it was left to McKay to provide the inspiration which saw Rangers open the scoring. He hared away from Andy Dowie down the left and his through pass was perfect for the run offered from Andy Halliday as he broke out of his deeper midfield beat. The 23-year-old midfielder is a classy operator on the ball and Robbie Thomson couldn’t keep out his left foot finish.

There was a rare sign of defensive frailty from the visitors when Harris released Ryan Conroy, only for him to opt for a square pass when a shot seemed a better option, but there was little sign of the carnage that would be unleashed in the second period. Rangers captain Lee Wallace was withdrawn from the fray with a knee problem, and his fellow full back Tavernier would also be spared the last half an hour but the Ibrox side exploited their extra man to the full.

Waghorn despatched two penalties with aplomb, the first after the coming together between Dowie and Dominic Ball in the box as the on-loan Spurs man sought his first goal for the Ibrox club, and the second after a Halliday free-kick struck Russell on the arm. Jason Holt got his side’s third on the day, tapping in at the second attempt, after a Gedion Zelalem pass had torn the home defence apart, and McKay got the goal he deserved with a good finish following a square ball from Waghorn. The only consolation for the home fans came in the form of a finish from lively substitute Aidan Smith, reprising a goal he scored in a 1-1 draw against Rangers at Ibrox back in March.

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Queen of the South 1

Smith 81

Rangers 5

Halliday 28, Waghorn 51 pen, 76 pen, Holt 59, McKay 64

Queen of the South (4-4-1-1): Thomson; Dowie, Brownlie, Higgins, Marshall; Harris, Millar (Hutton 64), Jacobs (Pickard 64), Russell; Conroy (Smith 54); Lyle.

Subs not used: Atkinson, Kidd, Moxon, Heffernan

Rangers (4-1-2-3): Foderingham; Tavernier (Aird 70), Kiernan, Wilson, Wallace; Halliday; Holt, Zelalem; McKay, Waghorn, Miller (Oduwa 64).

Subs not used: Kelly, Law, Shiels, Hardie

Sent off: Queen of the South: Lyle 50.

Booked: Queen of the South: Millar 47, Dowie 51, Jacobs 53, Pickard 74, Russell 75, Brownlie 86. Rangers: Tavernier 51, Kiernan 87.

Referee: B Madden

Attendance: 5858