Daniel Cousin will be the toast of the Rangers faithful after his winning goal at Gretna put Walter Smith's side four points clear.
Frenchman strikes to give Rangers four-point advantage
Daniel Cousin will be the toast of the Rangers faithful after his winning goal at Gretna put Walter Smith's side four points clear at the top of the SPL.
Ibrox skipper Barry Ferguson set the ball rolling when he opened the scoring just before the break but Gretna were back in the game just 40 seconds into the second half thanks to Kenny Deuchar.
Rangers then failed with three penalty claims before Cousin - who has pledged to remain at Ibrox despite being linked with several English Premier League clubs - wrapped up all three points.
Early pressure
Gretna were under pressure in the opening minutes when Sasa Papac pounced on a David Weir ball before cutting back into the path of Ferguson but the skipper was denied by a timely block from Danny Hall.
Rangers looked most likely to open the scoring and Steven Naismith was not too far away when he rifled into the side-netting before pulling a shot wide of target at the near post.
Chris Burke then saw his drive from 25 yards whistle inches over the crossbar, before setting up Ferguson who was unfortunate to see his effort fizz across the goalmouth before falling just wide of the upright.
Gretna should have taken the lead nine minutes before the break when Carlos Cuellar failed to prevent Deuchar's run into the box and only the foot of
goalkeeper Allan McGregor kept the scoreline level.
Instead, it was Rangers who struck a minute before half-time. Cousin's ball found Naismith and his flick-on was met by Ferguson, who left Tony Caig with no chance when he unleashed a thunderous volley from just inside the box.
The second half was just 40 seconds old when Gretna hauled themselves back on level terms. Skelton won the ball and found Allan Jenkins, who delivered a superb cross onto the head of Deuchar to nod past McGregor from six yards.
Penalty appeals
Cousin went to ground under pressure from Hall, before Naismith made a more convincing claim for a penalty after being felled by Aurelien Collin 60 seconds later.
Caig then appeared to handle outside the area but remained on the park when stand-side assistant Steve Pullar signalled for play to continue.
Rangers' fury was compounded when Naismith's jersey appeared to be tugged by Craig Barr and referee Iain Brines initially pointed to the spot before realising Pullar had flagged for offside.
When Rangers did find the back of the net again with 73 minutes gone, it was without any assistance from the match officials.
Jean-Claude Darcheville had replaced Naismith and he was the provider, releasing Cousin into the box, and he did well to round the keeper before slotting into the bottom corner of the net.
