RANGERS spared themselves one last dose of anguish as they brought the curtain down on a season to forget with a 2-1 win over St Johnstone in Perth.
Kenny Miller and Jon Toral put Rangers two up before Graham Cummins sparked a nervy final quarter-hour when he pulled one back for Tommy Wright’s team.
But the final-day win will still be little consolation to the beleaguered Ibrox faithful, who started the season expecting their team to challenge Celtic for the Ladbrokes Premiership title only to see them end the term 39 points adrift of Brendan Rodgers’ undefeated Hoops.
Gers kicked off knowing their miserable campaign would at least not grow any darker, having already staved off Saints’ late challenge for third place.
But for a spell it looked like they would have to endure one last underwhelming display as Wright’s men — back in Europe for the third time in four seasons — put a raw back-line containing youngsters David Bates, Aidan Wilson and Myles Beerman under pressure during the opening exchanges.
Five minutes from the break Miller tucked away his 14th goal of the season to put his side in front.
He had started the move releasing Waghorn out on the right before continuing his run into the box. And when the Englishman hooked the ball back into his path, Miller needed just one touch to find the the bottom corner with a clinical finish.
Nerves on display at the start of the second half were calmed when on 53 minutes Toral marked his final appearance in blue with a goal.
The Spaniard’s name may go down on the scoresheet but the credit belongs to Tavernier, who showed a flash of his form last season in creating it.
Cummins gave Rangers a fright 14 minutes from time by rifling past Alnwick after being played in by Greg Hurst, but St Johnstone were unable to find another in the time remaining.
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