Losing to the Old Firm is never quite as bad when you feel they have had to work hard for their goals. Suffering a defeat because of some brilliance that highlights the difference in quality between the two sides on the park makes it a bit easier to accept. Sadly, Saints couldn't even cling on to that nugget of comfort when they lost to Rangers this afternoon.

After a battling first half display in which Rangers had a goal controversially disallowed, things fell apart when Marc McAusland headed into his own net just three minutes into the second half. The second arrived soon after when Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty ripped Saints apart to give Steven Naismith a back post tap-in.

The next goal was always going to be important and Rangers were handed it on a plate when poor defending from John Potter and McAusland let Kenny Miller in for the sort of chance he just doesn't miss these days. A penalty from sub Michael Higdon gave Saints some hope, but it turned out to be little more than a consolation goal.

In truth, there can be few complaints with the scoreline. After escaping when Craig Samson punched the ball into his own net just before half time, only for the goal to be ruled out, Saints didn't get started in the second half. When it reached 3-0, it seemed a case of how many Rangers wanted to score, with the wounds mainly being self inflicted.

The first half display from Saints was good, unfortunately they couldn't keep it up in the second half and remain rooted to the bottom of the SPL. Replicating the performance from the opening 45 minutes over the course of a whole game could provide Saints with some much needed points in games against Dundee United and Celtic this week.

After finally ending two months without a win against Aberdeen, Saints boss Danny Lennon made just one change with Hugh Murray coming into midfield and Michael Higdon dropping out. It looked as if Gareth Wardlaw would be deployed on his own up front, with Paul McGowan and Aaron Mooy looking to get forward from midfield whenever possible. Former Saint Kirk Broadfoot had to make do with a place on the Rangers bench and Vladimir Weiss took his place, with the in-form duo of Kenny Miller and Steven Naismith being deployed up front. The man in the middle was Craig Thomson, who had a rather eventful day the last time we played Rangers.

Lee McCulloch duffed an early shot well off target before Saints created the first real chance, McGowan cutting inside before shooting wide from the edge of the box. Mooy had the ball in the net after 12 minutes but the goal was never going to stand as Wardlaw had blatantly barged into Allan McGregor as he caught a Jure Travner cross, causing him to drop the ball at the Aussie's feet. These days you only have to look at a keeper the wrong way to be penalised, but on this occasion it was a clear foul - although former Saint Kenny McDowall, sitting in the Rangers dugout, may disagree...

The Saints defence were coping well in the early stages, crowding out danger men like Weiss and Naismith as they tried to find space. A momentary lapse gave Miller a chance from 18 yards, but he blazed it well off target before Maurice Edu was twice as far away with an effort from twice as far out. Miller got a bit closer midway through the half when his volley from a Sasa Papac cross was blocked by John Potter and was heading towards Naismith, but the flag was up for offside before he could get to the ball. The game's first booking arrived when Murray was cautioned for a late foul on Edu.

David van Zanten was lucky not to follow him a few minutes later when he brought Weiss' darting run to an end by nudging him over. Steven Davis nearly dished out a more damning punishment from the free-kick, a combination of the woodwork and Craig Samson keeping out the Northern Irishman's fine effort. van Zanten and Weiss clashed again as they tried to claim a throw in and the Slovakian clearly threw a punch at the Saints' man's chest. The home fans screamed for a red but instead Weiss only got booked - perhaps just as well considering what happened the last time Mr Thomson sent off a Rangers player against us. van Zanten was also booked, despite appearing to have done nothing wrong.

The lone striker approach seemed to be working quite well but a major problem was highlighted when Murray was able to play the ball through to Wardlaw. The striker comfortably had the beating of David Weir but had no one in support, eventually settling for a corner. It wasn't properly cleared by the Rangers defence and van Zanten was able to play it back in for Marc McAusland, whose volley was straight at McGregor. Miller was getting little to work with at the other end, flicking the ball wide from a poor Papac shot.

There was a huge let-off for Saints right on half time when Samson punched a Weiss corner into his own net to put Rangers in front. However, Mr Thomson decided there had been a foul of some sort and chalked it off. Not only did the TV replays prove there was no foul, it showed that Samson was so sure of his mistake he punched the post in anger! The keeper even admitted after the game he was unsure as to why the goal had been disallowed.