Rangers 4 - 0 Dumbarton: Rangers move clear at top

Rangers made a winning start to a month which could define the outcome of the Championship title race as they re-opened a three-point lead over Hibs at the top of the table.

A delighted Nathan Oduwa celebrates scoring his first goal for Rangers. Picture: SNS

Struggling Dumbarton proved obdurate opponents for Mark Warburton’s side in a goalless first half but were overpowered by a much-improved display by the Ibrox men after the break.

Goals by Jason Holt, Martyn Waghorn, substitute Nathan Oduwa and an Andy Halliday penalty secured victory in the first of five league games Rangers face in December, culminating in the visit of Hibs on the 28th.

There was no lack of defensive nous and experience in a Dumbarton line-up which frustrated Rangers in the opening period with a robust and disciplined 4-4-1-1 formation.

The visitors’ back four included two former Scotland internationals in Darren Barr and Steven Saunders, along with the redoubtable figure of veteran ex-Kilmarnock and St Johnstone centre-half Frazer Wright.

While it was generally one-way traffic towards Mark Brown’s goal, the Dumbarton goalkeeper was hardly under siege as Rangers struggled to create clear-cut openings.

An early breakthrough might have succeeded in drawing Dumbarton out of their defensive shell and captain Lee Wallace came closest to providing it for the hosts. In the tenth minute, he latched onto a lofted pass by Barrie McKay and his powerful left-foot volley was well saved by Brown.

Dumbarton provided an occasional hint of menace on the counter-attack, although their claim for a penalty when Grant Gallagher went down under Dominic Ball’s challenge was hugely optimistic.

Ball was back in the Rangers starting line-up after Danny Wilson withdrew from the squad earlier in the day when his wife went into labour.

On-loan Spurs defender Ball was equally unsuccessful with a penalty shout of his own at the other end when he tumbled under a Saunders challenge.

Steven Craig was ploughing a lone furrow up front for Dumbarton and the veteran striker might have snatched the lead for his team when he headed over from Kevin Cawley’s cross, his anguished reaction suggesting he should have done better.

Brown was forced into his second telling save of the night in the 36th minute. Nicky Clark, replacing Kenny Miller in the Rangers line-up, saw his close range header from a James Tavernier cross gathered under the crossbar by Brown.

Warburton’s frustration led him to confront referee Crawford Allan as the teams left the pitch at half-time, apparently complaining at no stoppage time being added for what he regarded as time-wasting by Dumbarton.

But the pace and urgency of his team’s play was the biggest issue for Warburton to address during the interval.

There was a delay to the start of the second half, when spectators were moved from a section of the Sandy Jardine Stand because of structural damage in the roof, forcing the players to wait on the pitch for almost ten minutes before the go-ahead was given to recommence.

Rangers could hardly have been quicker out of the blocks when the whistle did blow, taking just 82 seconds to get the opener. Smart work by McKay on the left stretched the Dumbarton defence which was finally breached when Tavernier’s cross from the right was headed home from close range by Holt.

There was a sense of relief around Ibrox and Rangers strengthened their grip with an excellent second goal on the hour. McKay countered quickly from a botched Dumbarton free-kick and the ball was shuttled on by Holt and Gedion Zelalem to Waghorn who curled a shot high beyond Brown’s right hand from 20 yards for his 19th goal of the season.

Dumbarton were on the ropes now, Tavernier heading against the crossbar before Oduwa made it 3-0 when he slid home his first goal for the club from Wallace’s cutback. Rangers wrapped up an ultimately satisfying night’s work when Halliday converted an 87th minute spot-kick awarded for a foul on Wallace which earned Saunders a straight red card.