Lindsay Herron reports from Love Street

 RANGERS slumped to their first defeat at Love Street in 22 years, losing pole position in the SPL at the same time.

It was a lack of a cutting edge which cost them dear on their last visit to St Mirren Park and that was the most galling thing for manager Walter Smith.

They had most of the play but never really hurt Saints who won the game 12 minutes from time with effectively their only purposeful attack of the second half.

The Rangers defence was caught out when Mehmet flicked the ball into the path of substitute Stephen McGinn who curled a left foot shot past Allan McGregor.

Rangers threw everything at them in the final moments and Saints cleared off the line four times and Boyd hit the post but it was a poor and costly performance.

They had found it difficult to create chances from the outset, caused by a combination of their own play and the organisation of St Mirren.

The Paisley side flooded the midfield with five players which constrained Rangers' passing game to a degree and defended tremendously well any time Rangers threatened.

Kevin Thomson is not renowned for his goal threat having scored just twice since moving from Hibs in January last year.

However, he was the man who came closest for Rangers in a poor first 45 minutes.

In 25 minutes Thomson capitalised on a careless pass by Gary Brady to race towards the Saints box but his powerful shot was straight at Mark Howard who made the block and then Haining followed up to clear.

Then in 38 minutes the Scotland midfielder came close again when he took a pass from Pedro Mendes, played a 1-2 with Charlie Adam and then struck a powerful shot which Howard pushed over the bar.

It had been a frustrating day for Darcheville and Miller up front who never really had any opportunities of note.

Having said that, Allan McGregor, who made a surprise return, had nothing to do in the first half.

The closest St Mirren came was a shot from Brady in eight minutes which McGregor knew was going wide.

There was plenty of possession for the Light Blues but there was a lack of penetration which Walter Smith knew had to improve.

There was certainly more urgency in the early moments of the second half and Rangers began to carve out better opportunities.

Darcheville won a corner in 49 minutes and Davis picked out Bougherra with the kick but the Algerian could not get over the ball and his header flew over the top.

Miller had a shot deflected for a corner a minute later after a poor clearance by Jack Ross then Broadfoot fizzed a left foot shot over the bar a minute after that.

The injection of pace in Rangers' game was paying dividends with Davis and Mendes beginning to have much more of an influence.

However, they were stopped in their tracks in 57 minutes when Thomson went down after a crunching 50-50 challenge with Brady.

The game was over for Thomson who was helped from the field by Mendes and Adam and Kyle Lafferty came on to play on the left with Adam moving into a central role.

It seemed to stop Rangers' momentum.

Boyd came on for Darcheville in 65 minutes as Rangers tried to dig out the goal they wanted but the hances seemed to have dried up.

Then disaster struck in 76 minutes when Rangers were undone by some poor marking and Saints grabbed a stunning goal.

Jack Ross drove the ball down the right, Mehmet flicked it inside and substitute Stephen McGinn had time and space to curl a terrific left foot shot past McGregor.

It was a shocker for Rangers and they had little time to do anything about it.

Boyd was desperately unlucky in 87 minutes when Papac picked him out with a great cross but his header struck the post.

A minute later Boyd had a header cleared off the line from Adam's corner and both Lafferty and Miller had shots blocked.

There was more penalty box drama when Lafferty and Broadfoot both had efforts frantically cleared from inside the six-yard box.

However, the last trip to Love Street is not something that will live long in the memory.