A windswept day in Wiltshire was never going to produce a classic. What it did produce was a resolute performance and a moment of sheer class for the winning goal. With Andy Thomson absent again with his geriatric back Dominic Foley stepped in to fill his place. Foley had been on loan at Swindon earlier in the year with less than startling effects. He got the usual chants of Swindon reject, a complete opposite to the warm welcome afforded to Fraser Digby. The rest of the team remained the same as Rangers set about winning a fourth game on the bounce.

With the injury crisis that seems to have hit the striking department, Richard Pacquette being the latest, non-contract player Junior Agogo was on the bench. Brian Fitzgerald and Lyndon Duncan joined him.

As the game began you could see that the blustery conditions were going to wreak havoc. For those that have never had the misfortune to visit the County Ground let me paint a picture. One end is an open seated bank and the other a very low one-tiered stand. With high stands on either side, the place is like a bloody wind tunnel. The kicking of the two keepers showed just how windy it was. Swindon keeper Griemink was kicking into the wind and could hardly reach halfway. Evans was kicking with it and was launching it miles with little effort.

Chances were few and far between and any hope of a free flowing game was quickly banished by referee Hall. He was the most pedantic official I have seen in a while. To be fair he was pretty poor for both teams but in very different ways. He seemed unwilling to punish obvious offences but the most trivial was pulled up. A good case in point came in the first half when Steve Palmer appeared to handle in the box. The ref ignored it. Then second half Jerome Thomas committed his only foul of the game and was booked.

Rangers should have taken the lead midway through the first half. Good work from Thomas on the left led to a ball to the back stick. Foley got up but Swindon had a man on the line to gratefully hack away. We had very few other efforts of note. Langley and Thomas both fired over from distance meanwhile at the other end Eric Sabin saw a lot of the ball but displayed little composure in front of goal.

It was no surprise to anyone in the ground that it was 0-0 at the break. What I couldn't believe was some people booing the team off! I'm not sure how good they think we are but I am not sure drawing at half time is a good enough reason to give the team stick. Some people don't seem to understand that we are not Brazil and that we won't be winning at half time in every game we play.

The second half was much the same as the first. The wind was ruining the game and it wasn't a great spectacle. Neither keeper had really been forced into making a save and with some of the Rangers finishing it didn't look like the Swindon keeper ever would.

Two headed chances could have wrapped the game up with well over half an hour left to play. The first fell to Dominic Foley who was, in truth, having a bit of a stinker. Langley floated the ball in from the right and Foley had a free header from six yards. He contrived to get so little on the ball that it didn't actually change direction. Soon after, Rose found himself with a diving header from six yards that actually went away from the goal! You couldn't help thinking that Thommo would have gobbled up both of these.

Rangers survived a scare before taking the lead. Swindon sub Paul McAreavey delivered a left footed cross from the right. The wind caught hold of it and it drifted over a helpless Evans, luckily Joey Woodwork was on hand and the ball hit the bar and went over. It was Swindon's best chance of the game and it was a fluke, doesn't say much does it.

The goal that gave Rangers the points was absolute quality from a fantastic talent. Matthew Rose slipped the ball to Jerome Thomas who ran at Andy Gurney. He skipped past him and dinked the ball over the falling Griemink. It seemed to take an age to reach the goal, I actually thought the wind might blow it off target but no. It hit the far post and went in. It was the only bright spot in what was otherwise a pretty drab encounter.

Junior Agogo had already entered the fray by this time and showed some half-decent touches. He clearly isn't fit, or I hope he isn't! He offered more than Foley had all afternoon and may have scored if the rather excitable linesman had stuck to the rules.

As good as Thomas was the outstanding Rangers player for me was Steve Palmer. This was a pig of an afternoon to be playing at centre back. Every ball had to be judged to perfection, as you couldn't tell whether it would fly over your head or drop ten feet in front. He did everything with the minimum of fuss and he was like a rock. He needed to be at times as big Dan was having one of his poorer days. He kept giving away soppy free kicks and in the end was booked for his trouble.

Other results didn't go for us but we still have a chance. If we can't make the play-offs, it would be nice to buckle a wheel on the Brentford bandwagon. If they do go up and we don't then it is no big deal. We won't have to play each other for a while, as next season we will pass each other. Us on the way up, them on the way down!