Wallace leads the way for Rangers at Easter Road

Lee Wallace reached for the left breast of his shirt, took that revered, blue fabric within his fist, raised the badge high and then placed it to his lips. The punters roared their approval, but he urged them to calm down before exhibiting his allegiances again. It was his way, it seemed, of showing this was no cheap gesture.

There was a controlled anger smouldering within Wallace from start to finish at Easter Road. There has been a controlled anger about him all week, a determination to show that enough is enough as this club he stuck with through thick and thin has lurched from one bout of humiliation to another.

The Ibrox vice-captain had played like a man possessed throughout the

90 minutes. He deserved his moment. Lord help any man who gets in his way of his rampaging runs up the flank in this form and in this frame of mind.

Naturally, Wallace's opening goal and the highly controversial role he played in setting up Kenny Miller for the second in an unexpected win had secured the SPFL Championship title for his former club, Hearts.

It can safely be said that was not the focus of his celebrations. He has been through agonies this season. He lost his grandfather at the end of last year around the same time as his close friend, Murray D'Angelo, was killed in a road accident.

He knows he has not achieved anything close to what he is capable of, but he certainly set about ending the campaign by leading from the front. It is highly likely, mind you, that his team-mates had started paying attention to him long before they boarded the team coach to Easter Road yesterday morning.

To those of us who spoke to Wallace within the confines of Murray Park ahead of this encounter, it was clear this was a man at the end of his tether, a man tired of the clichés and the garbage tumbling from within the dressing-room and tired of the never-ending embarrassments on the field.

He decided it was time to tell it as it is. Time to make it clear that failure to win promotion this season would represent three wasted years in the lower leagues. Time to make it clear that there can be no excuses whatsoever for the standard of football played over the last seven months.

He also talked about increased "organisation". He would not go as far as to say that the team has been disorganised in the not-too-distant past, but the realities of that are well-established.

Rangers, in just the third game of Stuart McCall's reign, looked like a team that knew what it was going on the pitch to achieve. They ended up doing a number on a team that was flying high before kick-off, having won seven games on the bounce.

Tellingly, McCall, continuing to rotate the squad and give players their chance, also chose to change the formation by going with three at the back and using Lee Wallace and Darren McGregor as advanced full-backs. Over the piece, it worked well.

Rangers are not blessed with pace in defence and having the extra man in the rearguard helped prevent them being sprung too often. The gamble of pushing Wallace and McGregor that little bit further up the park paid dividends at the opening goal, in particular. As the game wore on, it became clear that the early flurries from the home side had done nothing other than flatter to deceive.

With 10 minutes on the clock, a superb cross from Dylan McGeouch picked out Liam Fontaine, who had drifted clear of Bilel Mohsni, and the centre-back should have done considerably better than heading the ball wide of goalkeeper Cammy Bell's right-hand post. Fontaine headed wide again on 25 minutes from an Allan corner, finding himself under just too much pressure from Marius Zaliukas.

Chances for both sides remained at a premium as we reached the halfway point of the opening period, but it became clear that Rangers were slowly beginning to gain a solid footing.

A minute before the interval, Wallace's industry and drive, evident from the start, would get its just reward. Mohsni's return to the team was a surprise. There were moments in which he showed his usual lack of concentration. However, the pass that laid the foundations for that first goal was a thing of beauty.

The Tunisian internationalist picked up the ball deep inside his own half and, noticing that Nicky Clark had got himself into space, sprayed a fantastic diagonal ball out left. Clark, with Paul Hanlon posted missing, advanced into a dangerous position and put a low cross into the area.

McGregor saw his effort blocked by Lewis Stevenson, but the ball would fall for Wallace around seven yards out and he stroked it high into the net with his left foot.

Rangers could have doubled their advantage just after the hour when Clark was played clean through by Miller in the wake of more fine play from Mohsni. He took just a little too much time in releasing his shot, though, and Hanlon slid in to make an important block.

Mohsni, as he does, then lost the ball to Franck Dja Djedje inside his own half. Dja Djedje did not seem to realise what had opened up for him, though. He dithered, could not decide whether to hit a shot of play a pass to Dominique Malonga and ended up making a right pig's ear of it.

The same cannot be said of Miller 10 minutes from time. He played the ball out to Wallace on the left and was on hand to receive the return after the left-back and Hanlon had crunched into each other.

Alan Stubbs, the Hibernian manager, was adamant his side should have been awarded a free-kick. The referee Willie Collum, no stranger to strange decisions of late, allowed play to rage on as most of the stadium stopped in anticipation of the whistle and Miller took a touch before rifling a low shot into the net and jumping over the advertising hoardings in jubilation and relief to celebrate with the away support.

It is tempting to ask where these Rangers players have been hiding all season. Now they have emerged from the shadows, they have to show this rare spot of sunshine in Leith is no false dawn.