Queen of the South have climbed into the playoff places of the Scottish Championship table courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Rangers at Palmerston Park this evening.
The result brings an end to a nine-match unbeaten streak for the visitors, while also inflicting a first defeat on them under Stuart McCall.
Queen of the South, meanwhile, have now won back-to-back matches against two of the teams above them in the table to move up to fourth, five points adrift of Rangers.
It was the visitors who looked the more threatening during a quiet opening half-hour, with Nicky Clark sending a header wide and David Templeton firing two efforts over the bar from outside the box.
The hosts took full advantage of the game's first clear opening, however, with Derek Lyle adding the finishing touches to a move that also included Dan Carmichael and Lewis Kidd.
It was almost 2-0 just minutes later as James Fowler's side broke quickly, but Gavin Reilly's effort was kept out by Lee Robinson this time.
Rangers pushed for an equaliser towards the end of the half and came within inches of getting one when Kenny Miller steered a header towards goal, only to see it crash off the crossbar.
The visitors found themselves two behind within seconds of the restart, however, as Kidd met a cross at the back post before firing a shot against Lee Wallace and in.
McCall's side saw more of the ball as they looked for a way through, but the Doonhamers stayed solid at the back and struck a killer blow with the third goal of the game as Reilly finished off a quick counter-attack 22 minutes from time.
That proved to be the last of the scoring as Rangers failed to find a way back into the match, missing the chance to leapfrog Hibernian into second place.
Barney Corkhill
