It shouldn't have been that way. We played very well in the first half, keeping things tight, and benefited from a strange refereeing decisions to go in level at the break. Within minutes, Rangers were in front when Marc McAusland scored an own goal. We were ripped apart for Steven Naismith to bag the second before horrendous defending from John Potter and McAusland gave Rangers the third. It's never quite as bad when the opposition has to work hard to score, but these wounds were very much self inflicted.
There can be no complaints about officiating as we had a couple of rather soft decisions in our favour. The first saw us escape when Craig Samson punched the ball into his won net. The second was a soft penalty when Steven Davis was deemed to have handled the ball deliberately - but even though Higdon scored the penalty, it didn't spark a proper fightback.
Nope, this was all down to us this one, which is annoying after the good start. With games against Dundee United and Celtic to come this week, we could soon be cut adrift at the bottom.
For once, Mirren Mad's predictions on team selection were right - well, half-right. As expected, Hugh Murray came into the team but it was Michael Higdon, rather than Aaron Mooy, who made way. Higdon dropped to the bench, with the expectation being that Paul McGowan would be moved up front to take Higdon's place. However, that didn't happen, with Gareth Wardlaw up front on his own and Mooy and McGowan looking to get forward when they could. Rangers also made just one change, Vladimir Weiss taking the place of former Saint Kirk Broadfoot. Kenny Miller and Steven Naismith were deployed in attack, suggesting our defence were in for a tough afternoon. There was a familiar face in charge of this game in the shape of Craig Thomson, who took charge of a certain game at Hampden in March...
A corner inside the first minute for Rangers sparked worry, but thankfully Lee McCulloch's shot was nearer the corner flag than the goal. Then McGowan found himself some space for a shot, but put it wide. A Jure Travner cross looked dangerous and Allan McGregor appeared to have it covered only to drop it under pressure from Wardlaw, with Mooy lashing home the loose ball. However saying McGregor was "under pressure" is a bit of an understatement as the striker had blatantly barged into the Rangers keeper. It was as blatant a foul on the keeper as you will ever see.
For once, we had started reasonably well against Rangers and seemed to be coping reasonably well with guys like Weiss and Steven Davis. However, Davis was allowed to sneak the ball through to Miller at the edge of the box, but he shot well wide - as did Maurice Edu a few minutes later. Proof that the Old Firm can get away with anything they want arrived when Rangers won a free-kick and were allowed to wait for 20 seconds before taking it while Weiss tied his shoes. Clear evidence of the establishment bias against Celtic I'm sure you'll agree.
Rangers had settled after a shaky start and a Sasa Papac looked quite dangerous when it found Miller. His volley was well blocked by Potter and as Naismith ran in to hit it, the flag went up for offside. It didn't take as long as usual for Shuggy to pick up his customary booking, his foul on Edu seeing him enter Mr Thomson's little black book after just 26 minutes. The runs of Weiss were always likely to cause us problems today and sure enough, one did, David van Zanten ending it when he put the on-loan Man City man on the deck. From the free-kick, Davis was close but not quite close enough, seeing his shot hit the woodwork with a bit of help from Craig Samson.
You'd have thought after what happened the last time we played Rangers, a sending off would be the last thing our fans were wanting - yet that's exactly what happened after Weiss effectively punched van Zanten in the chest. Somehow he escaped with just a booking, with van Zanten rather harshly being given the same punishment for having done nothing wrong. It was certainly more than handbags and Weiss was lucky to only get yellow - although perhaps we were lucky it wasn't red after the last time...
I'm not really a fan of the lone striker approach at home and while it had helped defensively, the problem was highlighted perfectly when Murray won the ball from Weiss and slid it through to Wardlaw. He was able to beat David Weir but had no one to pass to, so settled for winning a corner. It was poor but not properly cleared so when van Zanten played it back in goal machine Marc McAusland was there to volley it towards goal, but it caused no problems for McGregor. We were keeping Rangers pretty restricted at the other end although a poor shot from Papac almost turned into something when Miller got something on it, but it went wide.
The good work appeared to have been undone a couple of minutes from half-time when Weiss whipped in a corner and Samson made the sort of blunder that we've expected, but not seen, from him by punching it into the net. Woops. Except that nice Mr Thomson decided there had been a foul somewhere and ruled it out. Nice one ref - especially as the TV replays showed no foul, instead confirming Samson's guilt by showing him punching a post in anger.
So, you'd think after that let off we wouldn't do anything silly at the start of the second half. Wrong. Rangers, fired up by the injustice, dominated the opening few minutes and when Kyle Lafferty - who replaced Weiss at the break - got something on a Davis cross, McAusland couldn't stop himself from heading it past Samson into the net. A huge blow, especially having done so well in the first half. Danny Lennon wasted little time in changing his system, replacing Mooy with Higdon.
It made no difference and just before the hour mark Rangers doubled their lead. Davis head the ball out wide to Lafferty and his low cross wasn't dealt with, providing Naismith with a tap-in at the backpost that he prodded home to ensure the three points would be heading back along the M8. While not a fan of Rangers' songs, and annoyed at how our afternoon had gone to pot inside 15 minutes, I did have a chuckle at their chant of "It's a conspiracy" after Naismith's goal.
The Saints performance wasn't a conspiracy, but the defending was criminal. Midway through the second half there seemed to be little danger when Potter tried to deal with a bouncing ball well out from goal, but you have to remember this is Potter we're talking about. Sure enough, his heading was up to his usual standard and it went the wrong way. Not to worry, McAusland is there - although Miller is pressuring him. The defender then completed a nightmare 20 minutes or so for himself by trying to bring the ball down on his thigh, which allowed Miller to nip in to slide the ball into the net for Rangers third. It was now a case of how many Rangers wanted.
But the next chance fell to Saints - and should have been taken. Madjid Bougherra almost fired a Travner cross into his own net, only to be saved by the woodwork. The rebound fell straight to Higdon and he just had to pick his spot. However, he strolled up to the ball and shot it straight at McGregor, who made the save. Jamie McCluskey came on after that and it wouldn't have been a surprise to see him replace fellow sub Higdon, but instead it was Wardlaw who came off.
A chance for a consolation came when we finally won our first penalty of the season. Travner cut inside and tried to cross, only to see the ball hit the arm of Davis. There is no argument about that part, but I have my doubts as to whether it was meant - had it been given at the other end I would have been less than impressed. Mr Thomson was unconvinced and didn't give the spot-kick - then Higdon grabbed the ball and the ref pointed to the spot! Understandably the Rangers players went mad, with Papac being booked for dissent before Higdon slammed home the penalty.
Game on, and the deficit should have been reduced further when Travner's cross was missed by Weir and found Higdon, but he sclaffed his shot wide. It was end to end stuff now, Miller firing over before Shuggy headed wide and Lafferty shot straight at Samson. After that it died down a bit, Saints having a bit of a late rally that created a few openings that came to nothing more.
Still, could be worse. We could have lost by nine goals - or to nine men...